Mayhem!

Is there any style of filmmaking in which Xavier Gens cannot excel? His preference is obviously for genre work, making it less likely, even today, that he’ll ever achieve the recognition he deserves, but within that he is always alert to political and social issues, and he handles drama with as much assurance as action. The action in Mayhem is blistering, so impressively delivered that you might miss the storytelling it’s doing at the same time.

At Eye For Film, we’re not big fans of the dead woman drives the plot subgenre, and as soon as you see the chemistry between ex-con Samir (Nassim Lyes) and his girlfriend Mia (Loryn Nounay), it’s clear that bad things are going to happen to her – yet though the plot is familiar, Gens gives it a very different quality. A story which could, in lesser hands, have been a TV revenge movie of the week, becomes something imbued with sensitivity and a real sense of tragedy, whilst those breathtaking action sequences give it a truly cinematic quality. The chances are that you’ll see it on a small screen, but find the biggest one you can.

“I came here because it was even worse in my own country,” a construction worker from Senegal tells Sam, reminding him to be grateful for small mercies. “Every day I praise God.”

Looking for a fresh start in Thailand with Mia and her small daughter Dara (Chananticha Chaipa), Sam takes what work he can get, but he can’t escape his past. A stunning early chase sequence ends in a lurching fall as his pursuer goes down onto scaffolding poles and concrete. Trouble comes looking for him, and it’s only when he has lost everything – with the exception of a couple of loyal friends – that he is able to acquire any meaningful agency over his life. It’s at this point that he dedicates himself to revenge.

Sam is an intensely physical character who knows how to fight, and Lyes embodies this well in what must have been a gruelling shoot, but crucially he is also capable of exuding vulnerability. In Gens’ hands, Sam’s actions don’t seem like those of a man in control. Even when he’s winning fights, his future looks hopeless, and when he does find a goal beyond violence, reaching it seems impossible. Witnessing some of the ugliest aspects of the criminal underworld along the way, he is clearly emotionally affected by it, wounded just as surely as he is by physical violence. That he seems incapable of switching off this sensitivity puts him at an immediate disadvantage but also, perhaps, points to a way out – if he can survive that long.

The action is choreographed by Jude Poyer, and goes beyond even the now familiar bone-crunching, flesh-tearing antics of popular martial arts cinema. A scene in which two adversaries are pinned together by a long knife stuck through both of them, yet must continue to struggle against each other, will stick in your mind for a long time. In recognition of the fact that it is training and experience which matter most in this sort of combat, female antagonists are filmed in just the same way as men. After killing the first such opponent, Sam reels for a moment, shocked at himself, as if he sees in her a humanity he has missed in the men, but he cannot continue to react that way as there is no gender-related difference in the danger that his foes represent.

Despite the speed of the action and the variety of locations across which the film takes place, not a single shot feels rushed or incidental. Everything is to a purpose, from the colour palette and sound balance to the smallest background details. These things build together to create a psychological portrait of a man who is as lost in this situation as any of us might be, regardless of his fighting prowess. Sam’s journey may follow a familiar route, but the observations made along the way are quite different. The result is a fascinating cinematic exercise with the potential to please fans of art and cinematic violence alike.