Mayhem

Part horror film, part violent spectacle, and part black comedy, Mayhem borrows from viral outbreak thrillers like 28 Days Later and last-man-standing survival action films to create a perverse corporate revenge picture. Derek Cho (Steven Yeun) is a mid-level lawyer who established the precedent that people are not legally liable for crimes committed during the eight-hour cycle of an aggression-boosting virus called "Red Eye" (named for the tell-tale signs of infection). Derek is fired to cover a mistake made by a higher-up just as the virus hits the corporate high rise building, which is immediately quarantined, and Derek starts fighting his way up the executive ladder to take his grievance to the board, killing anyone who stands in his way. Samara Weaving costars as a civilian victim of the company's heartless legal maneuvering who teams up with him for her own vengeance. Mayhem presents itself as a satire of corporate culture, where the impulses of ruthless, ferociously competitive employees are unleashed in a series of gladiatorial battles in an office environment, and everything within reach is a potential weapon. It plays on audience resentment toward soulless corporate entities and a system stacked against regular citizens. It's also a simple kind of satire without nuance, although it does offer a kind of bloody catharsis as Derek rises, floor by floor, up the scale of culpability and corruption. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)