We investigate the dynamical behavior of unstable systems in the vicinity of the critical point associated with a liquid-gas phase transition. By considering a mean-field treatment, we first perform a linear analysis and discuss the instability growth times. Then, coming to complete Vlasov simulations, we investigate the role of nonlinear effects and calculate the Lyapunov exponents. As a main result, we find that near the critical point, the Lyapunov exponents exhibit a power-law behavior, with a critical exponent beta=0.5. This suggests that in thermodynamical systems the Lyapunov exponent behaves as an order parameter to signal the transition from the liquid to the gas phase.