Mayhem stars Steven Yeun, best known as Glenn from The Walking Dead, as a disillusioned lawyer who realizes that he works for the bad guys. When they turn on him, it coincides with a widespread contagion of a virus that destroys inhibitions so he can do anything and not be held legally liable. Will he be out for number one or try to make amends in his quest for revenge?
The only reason that I watched Mayhem was for Yeun. It was great to see him appear briefly in Sorry to Bother You. He was my favorite part of I, Origins, and it showed that The Walking Dead wasn’t just fortuitous casting. Yeun is the kind of actor that makes whatever he is in better than it actually is, which is why Mayhem was brilliant to cast him as the lead, Derek, because another actor could have left this film unwatchable through no fault of his own.
Mayhem had the opposite problem of The Belko Experiment, which predates this movie. Before the virus even struck, everyone was already at a ten with respect to tension so it was hard to see a change. It just seemed like business as usual. Also the editing at the beginning of the film is too rapid, which evokes the pace and intensity of the workplace, but leaves no room to ratchet it up as the movie unfolds and the virus spreads. It left the movie with fewer options to compare and contrast behavior and character’s psychological makeup before and after infection. For a lack of impulse control, there is still a lot more dialogue and elaborate scheming than I expected, which is fine, but makes it harder for me to see a distinction between pre and post infection behavior other than through physical violence, which is gratuitous and not tasteful so keep moving if that is a turn off. It was even a bit much for someone like me who has a fairly high threshold.
I wish that the filmmakers actually consulted with attorneys before making Mayhem. Because I’m an attorney, I got hung up on details of what Towers & Smythe Consulting actually did. They were lawyers, but didn’t actually work on the cases at the ground level yet their work played an important role on the ground level. So you have layers of lawyers from different firms, which sounds confusing logistically. I just can’t imagine that lawyers on the ground would take kindly to outsiders, albeit outsiders paid by the same client, acting as a backseat driver unless the ground level lawyers hired them. It is kind of like the gladiators in Scandal. They are consultants, and they are lawyers, but they don’t necessarily do legal work. Why couldn’t they just be lawyers, not consultants?
Otherwise I think that Mayhem had dynamic supporting characters that I was invested in: The Boss, The Siren, The Reaper, Irene and Ewan. We don’t know much about them, and they could have been one-dimensional archetypes, but as anyone who has dealt with office politics knows, they were immediately recognizable albeit over the top version of their real life counterparts. It was a nice touch that Ewan wore a gray suit since he was successful at the firm, but still human enough to be a friend to Derek. I loved that Irene is referenced, and when we finally get to see her in action, you understand how she rose in the ranks because she initially seems like just another old suit and may not be able to handle the sudden physical challenge of her job. The Boss’ weapon of choice, the golf club, was brilliant. Caroline Chikezie perfectly brought The Siren to life as a psychologically devious and wiley executive.
Dallas Roberts as The Reaper stole every scene that he was in during Mayhem. He was also an alum from The Walking Dead, but I remember him from his creepy repeat appearances in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. I think that his scenes perfectly illustrated the effect of the virus on an ordinarily cutthroat executive who usually only uses his words to destroy, not his actions. That bonsai tree montage was hilarious, and The Reaper got the best lines. “You can’t kick a firm’s ass. That’s the point.” He isn’t wrong.
I have mixed feelings about Samara Weaving as the main supporting costar in Mayhem. On one hand, she has great chemistry with Yeun, especially during their casual water cooler moments when they are debating the merits of The Dave Matthews Band. If you can be engaging while doing nothing terribly sensational, you’re doing a great job. On the other hand, she feels like a discount Margot Robbie, which feels mean to say because speaking for myself, I’m not even dollar store or no brand Margot Robbie so easy for me to say in my yoga pants at home, but her performance immediately evokes Robbie’s performance as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad, which predates this movie. There are lots of ways to play unhinged, and her acting choice or direction felt a bit more like an impression than a distinctive, original performance, which most of the other actors did.
Mayhem’s narrative framing with painting was an interesting choice that gave it a comic book veneer, but did not have the emotional resonating impact that I think the filmmakers were hoping to elicit in the audience. The opening montage elevator scene did a better job of showing the transformation of Derek from an idealistic, wide-eyed lawyer to a world weary, cynical grasping executive. A similar sequence at the end would have probably worked better. Maybe it would have worked better if there were more scenes throughout the movie showing Derek’s artistic yearnings. It feels more like a plot revelation than something that makes sense as you are watching the movie’s events unfold.
Mayhem is not a must see film. Even though it is short, only eighty-six minutes, and it is rapid paced, it is not a deliciously short movie, but one that privileges spectacle over story-telling though it does excel at depicting characters and getting us invested in them without wasting a lot of time. There is less character development than a clever interplay of archetypes. The violence seems more gratuitous than well choreographed, which bores me. I did not know this fact until after I watched the film, but at least one on screen sex scene is real, not simulated, which is a demerit in my book; however I would not be surprised if that element actually attracts more viewers. Overall I enjoyed it, but not consistently because of the lack of detail in the storytelling. I would have preferred if a virus was not used as an excuse for the chaos, and if the movie had just played the lawyer angle straight.
The only reason that I watched Mayhem was for Yeun. It was great to see him appear briefly in Sorry to Bother You. He was my favorite part of I, Origins, and it showed that The Walking Dead wasn’t just fortuitous casting. Yeun is the kind of actor that makes whatever he is in better than it actually is, which is why Mayhem was brilliant to cast him as the lead, Derek, because another actor could have left this film unwatchable through no fault of his own.
Mayhem had the opposite problem of The Belko Experiment, which predates this movie. Before the virus even struck, everyone was already at a ten with respect to tension so it was hard to see a change. It just seemed like business as usual. Also the editing at the beginning of the film is too rapid, which evokes the pace and intensity of the workplace, but leaves no room to ratchet it up as the movie unfolds and the virus spreads. It left the movie with fewer options to compare and contrast behavior and character’s psychological makeup before and after infection. For a lack of impulse control, there is still a lot more dialogue and elaborate scheming than I expected, which is fine, but makes it harder for me to see a distinction between pre and post infection behavior other than through physical violence, which is gratuitous and not tasteful so keep moving if that is a turn off. It was even a bit much for someone like me who has a fairly high threshold.
I wish that the filmmakers actually consulted with attorneys before making Mayhem. Because I’m an attorney, I got hung up on details of what Towers & Smythe Consulting actually did. They were lawyers, but didn’t actually work on the cases at the ground level yet their work played an important role on the ground level. So you have layers of lawyers from different firms, which sounds confusing logistically. I just can’t imagine that lawyers on the ground would take kindly to outsiders, albeit outsiders paid by the same client, acting as a backseat driver unless the ground level lawyers hired them. It is kind of like the gladiators in Scandal. They are consultants, and they are lawyers, but they don’t necessarily do legal work. Why couldn’t they just be lawyers, not consultants?
Otherwise I think that Mayhem had dynamic supporting characters that I was invested in: The Boss, The Siren, The Reaper, Irene and Ewan. We don’t know much about them, and they could have been one-dimensional archetypes, but as anyone who has dealt with office politics knows, they were immediately recognizable albeit over the top version of their real life counterparts. It was a nice touch that Ewan wore a gray suit since he was successful at the firm, but still human enough to be a friend to Derek. I loved that Irene is referenced, and when we finally get to see her in action, you understand how she rose in the ranks because she initially seems like just another old suit and may not be able to handle the sudden physical challenge of her job. The Boss’ weapon of choice, the golf club, was brilliant. Caroline Chikezie perfectly brought The Siren to life as a psychologically devious and wiley executive.
Dallas Roberts as The Reaper stole every scene that he was in during Mayhem. He was also an alum from The Walking Dead, but I remember him from his creepy repeat appearances in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. I think that his scenes perfectly illustrated the effect of the virus on an ordinarily cutthroat executive who usually only uses his words to destroy, not his actions. That bonsai tree montage was hilarious, and The Reaper got the best lines. “You can’t kick a firm’s ass. That’s the point.” He isn’t wrong.
I have mixed feelings about Samara Weaving as the main supporting costar in Mayhem. On one hand, she has great chemistry with Yeun, especially during their casual water cooler moments when they are debating the merits of The Dave Matthews Band. If you can be engaging while doing nothing terribly sensational, you’re doing a great job. On the other hand, she feels like a discount Margot Robbie, which feels mean to say because speaking for myself, I’m not even dollar store or no brand Margot Robbie so easy for me to say in my yoga pants at home, but her performance immediately evokes Robbie’s performance as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad, which predates this movie. There are lots of ways to play unhinged, and her acting choice or direction felt a bit more like an impression than a distinctive, original performance, which most of the other actors did.
Mayhem’s narrative framing with painting was an interesting choice that gave it a comic book veneer, but did not have the emotional resonating impact that I think the filmmakers were hoping to elicit in the audience. The opening montage elevator scene did a better job of showing the transformation of Derek from an idealistic, wide-eyed lawyer to a world weary, cynical grasping executive. A similar sequence at the end would have probably worked better. Maybe it would have worked better if there were more scenes throughout the movie showing Derek’s artistic yearnings. It feels more like a plot revelation than something that makes sense as you are watching the movie’s events unfold.
Mayhem is not a must see film. Even though it is short, only eighty-six minutes, and it is rapid paced, it is not a deliciously short movie, but one that privileges spectacle over story-telling though it does excel at depicting characters and getting us invested in them without wasting a lot of time. There is less character development than a clever interplay of archetypes. The violence seems more gratuitous than well choreographed, which bores me. I did not know this fact until after I watched the film, but at least one on screen sex scene is real, not simulated, which is a demerit in my book; however I would not be surprised if that element actually attracts more viewers. Overall I enjoyed it, but not consistently because of the lack of detail in the storytelling. I would have preferred if a virus was not used as an excuse for the chaos, and if the movie had just played the lawyer angle straight.
