‘Mayhem’ Is a Gratifying Study of Catharsis

Mayhem reminds me of The Belko Experiment, in that, it’s a brutal action horror comedy film set in a corporate building and involves office mates murdering each other.  But Mayhem is much, much better.  It does quite a lot more with its intriguing premise, and executes it in a wittier, more thoughtful, and more entertaining manner.

The story centers on Derek Cho (Steven Yeun), a lawyer who is unjustly terminated by his firm.  But before he can be kicked off the building, it’s put into quarantine due to an outbreak of a virus that removes emotional inhibitions and compels people to submit to their most primal urges.  Thus, the place erupts into anarchy, violence, debauchery, and insanity.  A neutralizer has been pumped into the building, but it will take eight hours before the virus is completely exterminated.  Thus, with only that amount of time on hand, Derek, with the help of a disgruntled ex-client (Samara Weaving), must go through a vicious, bloody gauntlet in order to settle the score with the executives that wronged him at the top floors.

The plot understandably has somewhat of a “zombie survival video game” structure and feel to it, as it involves the two main characters having to use improvised weapons, go through a frenzy, and defeat the “boss” of a floor in order to acquire access to the next floor, and so on, until they get to the top.  And this is an appealing feature of its storytelling.

Catharsis is a significant theme of the film.  And as it vividly explores a chaotic setting where people give in to their cathartic impulses – played off in ways that are either hilarious or terrifying, but thought-provoking either way – it also grants the audience a cathartic rush through following Derek go berserk in such an environment as he pursues his goal.

Probably in relation to this, the pace is urgent.  It just presents whatever elements are really necessary.  Characters are realized in just the right amounts in order to make their role in the narrative work.  And the exposition is efficiently integrated into scenes.  There’s no waste of running time.

Furthermore, there’s somewhat of an Edgar Wright-y quality about the direction and camera work.  And this particularly gives the film a kinetic and stylish feel.   Joe Lynch really did a great job helming this movie.

Lastly, I don’t watch The Walking Dead, so I wasn’t very familiar with Steven Yeun (he played the beloved character Glenn).  I was really impressed with him in this film (he was also solid as K in Okja, but not as impressive as he was here).  He was charismatic, and he delivered a convincing, engaging performance in portraying a mad man having the worst day of his life.  I also liked Samara Weaving quite a bit.  She and Steven had good chemistry.

I extremely enjoyed Mayhem.  I didn’t find any weak part, except for maybe the ending – I want the ending to be a bit more emphatic, and have maybe a short epilogue scene.  But it’s pretty minor, and other than that, I think this film is terrific – gratifying in both a visceral and a cerebral level (but probably more of the former).