{ "id": "epfhwqsn0y", "slug": "mayhem-film-epfhwqsn0y", "title": "Mayhem (film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.action-and-adventure-horror-films", "label": "Action and adventure horror films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.action-and-adventure-horror-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "United States · 2001 to 2020: Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001", "label": "United States · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror", "label": "Horror films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Mayhem (2017) is an action-horror-comedy directed by Joe Lynch, written by Matias Caruso, starring Steven Yeun and Samara Weaving. An ID7 virus strips a law firm's inhibitions; released Nov 10, 2017 by RLJE Films, 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.", "snippet": "Mayhem (2017) is an action-horror-comedy directed by Joe Lynch, written by Matias Caruso, starring Steven Yeun and Samara Weaving. An ID7 virus strips a law firm's inhibitions; released Nov 10, 2017 by RLJE Films, 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.horror.action-and-adventure-horror-films", "markdown": "# Mayhem (film)\n\n**Mayhem** is a 2017 American action-horror-comedy film directed by Joe Lynch and written by Matias Caruso, in which a virus that strips away inhibition breaks out in a corporate law office and two wronged employees fight their way to the top floor for revenge. It stars [Steven Yeun](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-yeun) as lawyer Derek Cho and [Samara Weaving](https://www.edgepedia.org/samara-weaving) as his former client Melanie Cross, with Steven Brand, Caroline Chikezie, Kerry Fox, and [Dallas Roberts](https://www.edgepedia.org/dallas-roberts) as the executives and fixers above them.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mayhem_2017) • [2](https://www.shockya.com/news/2017/11/09/interview-joe-lynch-talks-mayhem-exclusive/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director / writer | Joe Lynch; screenplay by Matias Caruso, his feature writing debut[2](https://www.shockya.com/news/2017/11/09/interview-joe-lynch-talks-mayhem-exclusive/) |\n| Stars | Steven Yeun (Derek Cho), Samara Weaving (Melanie Cross), Steven Brand (John Towers), Caroline Chikezie, Kerry Fox, Dallas Roberts[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mayhem_2017) |\n| Premise | The ID7 virus quarantines the law firm Towers & Smythe; infected people act on their worst impulses and, under a legal loophole, are not liable for what they do[2](https://www.shockya.com/news/2017/11/09/interview-joe-lynch-talks-mayhem-exclusive/) • [3](https://exclaim.ca/film/article/mayhem-directed_by_joe_lynch) |\n| Release | World premiere at SXSW in March 2017; limited theatrical and streaming release in the United States on November 10, 2017, distributed by RLJE Films[4](https://www.jackrabbitmedia.com/films/mayhem) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mayhem_2017) |\n| Runtime / format | 1h 26m, Scope (2.35:1) aspect ratio, English language[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mayhem_2017) |\n| Critical reception | 85% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes (59 reviews) with a 66% audience score; Metascore 62 on Metacritic; 6.4/10 on IMDb[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mayhem_2017) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mayhem/) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4348012/) |\n| Festival honors | Audience Award (Bronze Prize) at the 2017 Fantasia International Film Festival; Best Actor for Steven Yeun at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival[4](https://www.jackrabbitmedia.com/films/mayhem) • [2](https://www.shockya.com/news/2017/11/09/interview-joe-lynch-talks-mayhem-exclusive/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot and premise\n\nDerek Cho is an embittered executive at the corporate law firm Towers & Smythe Consulting. In the film's opening minutes he explains that the firm recently defended a man accused of murder committed while infected with ID7, a virus that renders its victims unable to control their own impulses.[3](https://exclaim.ca/film/article/mayhem-directed_by_joe_lynch) On the day the story takes place, Derek is framed for a corporate disaster and unjustly fired; just as he is leaving, the building is placed under quarantine because the virus is spreading through the vents.[2](https://www.shockya.com/news/2017/11/09/interview-joe-lynch-talks-mayhem-exclusive/) • [7](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/john-wick-meets-the-office-why-you-should-stream-this-free-action-movie-on-tubi)\n\nBecause anyone who commits violence while infected is not legally liable for their actions, the office becomes a lawless zone in which coworkers settle old scores. Derek teams up with Melanie Cross, a former client who was in the building that day fighting an immoral foreclosure and has a grudge of her own, and the two fight floor by floor toward the executives on the top floor.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mayhem_2017) • [4](https://www.jackrabbitmedia.com/films/mayhem) The corporate antagonists include John Towers (Steven Brand), Kara \"The Siren\" Powell (Caroline Chikezie), Irene Smythe (Kerry Fox), and Lester \"The Reaper\" McGill (Dallas Roberts).[4](https://www.jackrabbitmedia.com/films/mayhem)\n\n## Production\n\nThe script by Matias Caruso, an Australian writer living outside the United States, was optioned by the production company Circle of Confusion and sent to Joe Lynch, who was working a corporate job between films at the time and said the story resonated with his own experience of that environment. Lynch developed the script with Caruso over Skype and email, the financing came together, and the film was shot in Serbia.[2](https://www.shockya.com/news/2017/11/09/interview-joe-lynch-talks-mayhem-exclusive/)\n\nLynch cast Steven Yeun, then known for six seasons as Glenn on *The Walking Dead*, as his \"every man,\" and Samara Weaving, whom he had admired in *Ash vs. Evil Dead* and *The Babysitter*, after a five-minute Skype call convinced him she was right for Melanie. The two leads had about a week together before filming and two days of rehearsal, and Lynch ran an organic set in which the actors' instincts often overrode the script.[2](https://www.shockya.com/news/2017/11/09/interview-joe-lynch-talks-mayhem-exclusive/)\n\nThe production emphasized practical filmmaking. Most stunts were performed on set by Yeun and Weaving themselves, who used their stunt doubles only a few times. The visual effects work, more than 1,000 shots, was mostly devoted to the infected characters' red eyes, which could not be done with contact lenses on a cast of over 200 people; the editing process took about eight months because of the effects workload.[2](https://www.shockya.com/news/2017/11/09/interview-joe-lynch-talks-mayhem-exclusive/) The crew included cinematographer Steve Gainer, editor Josh Ethier, and composer Steve Moore.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mayhem-2017)\n\n## Genre context\n\nCommentators place *Mayhem* in the \"worksploitation\" subgenre, alongside Greg McLean's 2016 film *[The Belko Experiment](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-belko-experiment)*, which chronicles disgruntled employees fighting to survive a hostile workplace. Lynch argued the subgenre's appeal comes from how many people work in corporate settings and feel like \"a very small piece of a very big machine.\"[2](https://www.shockya.com/news/2017/11/09/interview-joe-lynch-talks-mayhem-exclusive/) Reviewers also drew comparisons to *Office Space* and *Crank*: the *Detroit News* called it \"a killer cross between 'Crank' and 'Office Space.'\"[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mayhem_2017)\n\n## Reception\n\n**Critical response was generally favorable.** On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an 85% Tomatometer from 59 reviews, with a critics consensus that it \"delivers stylish violence by the bloody bucketful\" while grounding the chaos in \"sharp humor and surprisingly effective real-world economic angst\"; the audience Popcornmeter stands at 66%.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mayhem_2017) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 62 based on 13 critic reviews, with 7 positive, 6 mixed, and none negative, and a user score of 7.3.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mayhem/) IMDb users give it 6.4/10 from about 31,000 ratings.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4348012/)\n\nIndividual reviews praised the action and the leads while faulting the script. [Richard Roeper](https://www.edgepedia.org/richard-roeper) of the *Chicago Sun-Times* scored it 88 and called it \"a fantastically creative, subversive and Tarantino-esque\" social satire; Joe Leydon of *Variety* called it \"a smartly constructed and sardonically funny indie with attitude.\"[4](https://www.jackrabbitmedia.com/films/mayhem) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mayhem/) Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave it 3 of 4 stars, writing that Yeun and Weaving are \"fearless and intense\" and that the film works as a story about people willing to do anything to excuse their own horrors.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mayhem-2017) Daniel Gallant of *Time Out* gave it 3 of 5 stars, calling the action scenes worthy of comparison to the work of [Takashi Miike](https://www.edgepedia.org/takashi-miike), Quentin Tarantino, and [David Fincher](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-fincher), but finding the dialogue contrived and the narrative bewildering; he judged that as a business satire the film \"aims high but falls short,\" while as a revenge actioner \"it excels.\"[9](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mayhem) More mixed reviews came from the *Los Angeles Times* and *Slant Magazine*, each scoring 50, the latter comparing its structure to a shoot-'em-up video game that repeatedly breaks for cutscenes.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mayhem/)\n\nAt festivals, the film won the Audience Award for Best North American, South American, or European Feature Film (Bronze Prize) at the 2017 Fantasia International Film Festival, and Yeun was named Best Actor at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.[4](https://www.jackrabbitmedia.com/films/mayhem) • [2](https://www.shockya.com/news/2017/11/09/interview-joe-lynch-talks-mayhem-exclusive/)\n\n## Availability\n\nAfter its November 2017 limited theatrical and digital release, the film has circulated widely on streaming services. It has been available on AMC+, Shudder, Prime Video, Plex, and Tubi, among others, and a 2026 streaming guide on Tom's Guide recommended it as a free title on Tubi.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mayhem_2017) • [4](https://www.jackrabbitmedia.com/films/mayhem) • [7](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/john-wick-meets-the-office-why-you-should-stream-this-free-action-movie-on-tubi)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Mayhem (2017), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mayhem_2017)\n2. [Interview: Joe Lynch Talks Mayhem (Exclusive), ShockYa, November 9, 2017](https://www.shockya.com/news/2017/11/09/interview-joe-lynch-talks-mayhem-exclusive/)\n3. [Toronto After Dark 2017: Mayhem, Exclaim!](https://exclaim.ca/film/article/mayhem-directed_by_joe_lynch)\n4. [MAYHEM (2017), Jackrabbit Media](https://www.jackrabbitmedia.com/films/mayhem)\n5. [Mayhem Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/mayhem/)\n6. [Mayhem (2017), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4348012/)\n7. ['John Wick' meets 'The Office': Why you should stream this free action movie on Tubi, Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/john-wick-meets-the-office-why-you-should-stream-this-free-action-movie-on-tubi)\n8. [Mayhem movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com, November 10, 2017](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mayhem-2017)\n9. [Mayhem, directed by Joe Lynch, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/mayhem)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Action and adventure horror films*\n\n*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/mayhem-film-epfhwqsn0y", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/mayhem-film-epfhwqsn0y.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Mayhem (film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/mayhem-film-epfhwqsn0y. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Mayhem (film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/mayhem-film-epfhwqsn0y)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/mayhem-film-epfhwqsn0y](https://www.edgepedia.org/mayhem-film-epfhwqsn0y). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Mayhem (film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/mayhem-film-epfhwqsn0y. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Mayhem is an action-horror-comedy directed by Joe Lynch, written by Matias Caruso, starring Steven Yeun and Samara Weaving." }