Mayhem ★★★

IN THE film streaming era the action genre share is significant.

Go to any service and there is no shortage of releases from every corner of the globe, as opposed to the previous US domination of the video store shelves.

A recent French offering worth seeking out is Mayhem, also known as Farang, directed by Xavier Gens who also helmed the popular 2024 shark thriller Under Paris.

Nassim Lyes, who also acted in Under Paris, plays Sam whom we meet serving a term in prison. Sam has been a model inmate and is on day work release. But an incident occurs that leaves Sam with no choice but to run.   

We jump to five years later and Sam has built a new life with a wife and daughter in Thailand. She runs a bar and he has a few jobs, including delivering passengers to and from the local airport.

But things start to unravel when he is recognised and a local gang leader offers him the opportunity to make some quick money. This goes badly and Sam again needs to go on the run while trying to protect his new family.

There is nothing new in this story but the acting is fine, some of the locations beautiful and everything moves along at a good pace.

It’s not action-packed, but when the mayhem kicks in it’s all very well done and brutal as usual.

Watched on Apple TV.