News

French kickboxing champ and action film star Nassim Lyes said he performed the majority of the stunts in his new action thriller, Mayhem, in his new uInterview.

In a conversation with uInterview founder Erik Meers, Lyes opened up about his experience on the set of Mayhem! as an actor with a real-life background in kickboxing. Lyes revealed that he did approximately 95% of his stunts in the movie, of which many were real.

Lyes stated that almost all of the body shots that took place in the film were real. However, Lyes confessed that he quickly regretted the decision to appeal to such authenticity, as his second fight in the movie was against a former Thai champion, whom Lyes was scared would break his ribs.

Despite his heavy involvement in the stunts, Lyes gave a shout-out to his body double, as his boxing background sometimes made it “hard to not hit for real.

For an action movie called “Mayhem!” and produced by the French outfit known as WTFilms, “Cold Skin” director Xavier Gens’ latest genre exercise starts off as a rather subdued affair that doesn’t seem all that eager to earn its title. An enjoyably hackneyed and machete-happy tale about an ex-con’s tragic first stab at a second chance, Gens’ Thailand-set foray into Gareth Evans territory is more than 40 minutes old before it borders on anything worthy of an exclamation point, and even by the time it’s over this slow-bruising riff on “The Raid” barely rises to the level of a low-key hullabaloo despite its promise of absolute pandemonium.

That isn’t necessarily a knockout blow against it. Inspired by his collaboration with Evans on “Gangs of London,” but aware that he lacks his colleague’s bone-crunching touch, Gens does his best to make the movie’s simple revenge porn...

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.

Xavier Gens (Frontiers, Cold Skin) is back this week with the brand new action thriller Mayhem!, and IFC Films has provided us with an exclusive clip to whet your appetite today.

Mayhem! will be available in theaters and everywhere you rent movies on January 5, 2024.

The film’s trailer was loaded up with rave reviews that praised the fight choreography in Xavier Gens’ latest, and our exclusive clip spotlights one of those violent fight sequences.

Check it out below, with the previously released trailer underneath the clip.

In the film, “Sam (Nassim Lyes) is a professional boxer about to be released from prison in France, but while on parole, his past catches up with him and he is forced to flee the country. Five years later, he has rebuilt a simple life on an exotic island in Thailand with his wife Mia and her daughter Dara, working multiple jobs to support...

The original title for Xavier Gens’s Mayhem! was Farang, a word that describes the main character’s status in Thailand. A martial artist and ex-con, Sam (Nassim Lyes) is also a foreigner, and a Westerner at that, having fled his native France. The title change is understandable, meant to reach the broader audience that might take interest in the film’s bloody revenge story, though it risks setting the wrong expectations. After all, long stretches of Mayhem! pass with little in the way of actual mayhem, especially in its first hour.

The film, written by Gens and Magali Rossito, initially focuses on Sam’s daily life after he’s released on day parole and does an honest day’s work at a construction site. But trouble soon finds Sam, and after a brief chase and scuffle that leaves one man dead, Mayhem! essentially hits reset and jumps forward five years.

French filmmaker Xavier Gens (Frontiers, Cold Skin) is back with brand new action thriller Mayhem!, and IFC Films has unleashed the trailer and release date this week.

Mayhem! will be available in theaters and everywhere you rent movies on January 5, 2024.

The film’s trailer is loaded with bone-crunching action and multiple rave reviews that praise the fight choreography and the nonstop action on display in Xavier Gens’ latest.

Watch the official trailer for Mayhem! below.

In the film, “Sam (Nassim Lyes) is a professional boxer about to be released from prison in France, but while on parole, his past catches up with him and he is forced to flee the country. Five years later, he has rebuilt a simple life on an exotic island in Thailand with his wife Mia and her daughter Dara, working multiple jobs to support his family and buy a piece of land to build a restaurant.

Farang! Photo: courtesy of Frightfest

A filmmaker who has never been afraid to explore the subject of violence, since his début feature, Frontière(s), in which a group of criminals seeks refuge in an inn run by a group of neo-Nazis, Xavier Gens returns with his revenge thriller Farang (Mayhem!).

The story centres on Sam (Nassim Lyes), who flees to Thailand after being involved in a fatal altercation. There he sets up home with Mia (Loryn Nounay) and her daughter. Their seemingly tranquil life is disrupted when Sam makes a fateful choice, thrusting him and his family into what seems to be an inescapable cycle of destructive violence.

Following the film's international première at Fantasia, Gens spoke with Eye For Film about the influence of the late William Friedkin and the importance of emotion driving the action.

Farang Photo: Courtesy of IFC Films.

Paul Risker: Why film as a means of creative expression?...

French filmmaker Xavier Gens (Frontiers, Cold Skin) is back with brand new action movie Mayhem!, and Variety reports today that IFC Films has acquired the film for distribution.

IFC Films will release Mayhem! sometime in 2024. First up, the movie will premiere at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival, which runs through August 9, 2023.

The film stars Nassim Lyes as Sam. “When he gets out of prison, he finds it difficult to escape the reach of a local gang lord. He heads to Thailand, but searching for a kidnapped family member brings him square into the bullseye of the underbelly he was trying to escape.”

Olivier Gourmet, Loryn Nounay, Vithaya Pansringarm and Sahajak Boonthanakit also star.

“Xavier Gens has crafted an energetic and propulsive film, showcasing some of the most impressive fight choreography we have ever seen,” said Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks’ Film Group.

“While winking at films like ‘The Raid’ and ‘Taken,...

IFC Films has acquired Xavier Gens’ action spectacle “Mayhem!” (“Farang”) from Studiocanal ahead of its premiere at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival.

Produced by Vincent Roget (Same Player) and Dimitri Stephanides (WTFilms), “Mayhem!” will be released in 2024.

“Xavier Gens has crafted an energetic and propulsive film, showcasing some of the most impressive fight choreography we have ever seen,” said Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks’ Film Group.

“While winking at films like ‘The Raid’ and ‘Taken,’ Xavier has made a film which stands on its own as an iconic new member of the hand-to-hand action canon. We are thrilled to be working with the immensely talented team to bring this riveting story to theaters,” he added.

Shot in France and Thailand, “Mayhem!” stars Nassim Lyes as Sam. When he gets out of prison, he finds it difficult to escape the reach of a local gang lord. He heads to Thailand,...