Sometimes carrying out a simple favor for their boss can lead to a person’s life-or-death fight for revenge. That’s certainly the case for kickboxer-turned-actor Nassim Lyes’ protagonist of ex-con Sam in the upcoming action thriller, ‘Mayhem!’

The project premiered to critical acclaim last summer at the Fantasia International Film Festival. IFC Films is set to release the genre feature in theaters and on Digital this Friday, January 5.

‘Mayhem!,’ which is in French, Thai and English, was co-written, directed and co-produced by Xavier Gens (‘Gangs of London’). Besides Lyes, the drama also stars Olivier Gourmet and Vithaya Pansringarm.

Shot in the vein of ‘Taken’ and ‘The Raid,’ ‘Mayhem!’ features jaw-dropping actions sequences that were crafted by fight choreographer and stunt coordinator, Jude Poyer. The movie also transcends the traditional action genre with the story’s emotional core and the project’s artful cinematography by Gilles Porte.

A twist on the revenge story, ‘Mayhem!’ follows Sam, a professional boxer, as he’s released from prison in France. While on parole, his past catches up with him and he’s forced to flee the country.

Five years later, Sam has rebuilt a simple life on an exotic island in Thailand with his wife Mia and her daughter Dara. He’s working multiple jobs to support his family and buy a piece of land to build a restaurant. As his life begins to improve, a job gone wrong puts Sam in the crosshairs of local crime lord Narong (Gourmet), who retaliates with brutal violence. Crushed but still alive, Sam is left with only one purpose: to seek merciless and bone-breaking vengeance.

Gens, Lyes and Poyer generously took the time recently to talk about writing, directing, starring in and choreographing and coordinating the fight and stunt sequences in ‘Mayhem!’ during an exclusive interview over Zoom. The interview with the filmmakers can be viewed in the above video.

Watch the trailer for ‘Mayhem!’ here.