Mercy review (2026)
Mercy plays out like a tech upgrade hybrid of The Fugitive and Minority Report.
That’s an easy recipe for an entertaining sci-fi film that also benefits from a strong cast and a filmmaker who knows exactly how to pull off a concept that could have been horribly botched in the wrong hands.
Chris Pratt (The Electric State) stars as Chris Raven, an acclaimed police detective who now finds himself in the mercy seat.
In this instance, that’s not a good thing as Mercy is an AI program that uses a staggering amount of data at its disposal to determine if a suspect is guilty of a violent crime. Mercy assumes a suspect is guilty — much like social media — so it’s on the defendant to lower their guilt percentage to a reasonable doubt level. If they’re successful, they’re acquitted and the case is dismissed.
If they fail to so in the allotted 90 minutes, they don’t have to bother leaving the mercy seat as a sonic pulse executes them. Mighty convenient of the program to eliminate the whole pomp and circumstance of sending someone to the chair. Think of all the taxpayer savings for these super expedient trials.
For Chris, the greatest irony of his position is he’s been one of the biggest proponents of the effectiveness of the mercy program. Now he has to convince an emotionless AI Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson, A House of Dynamite) of his innocence of the crime he knows he didn’t commit — murdering his wife, Nicole (Annabelle Wallis).
After the initial emotional shock, Chris slowly starts to gather his faculties — with some prompting from Maddox — and gets into detective mode trying to work all the various angles of the case.
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Mercy is likely to prove especially triggering to viewers who are already leery of technological advancements and the less defined safeguards in place to ensure that AI doesn’t abuse its power.
Maddox quickly taps into social media accounts, cell phone pictures and videos, emails, bank records with shocking ease. Screenwriter Marco van Belle isn’t interested in framing the script as an easy “technology is evil” fear mongering send-up. The script is more nuanced showing how AI and technology can be a valuable tool provided it’s not the only method of dealing with serious issues. It’s still a little terrifying thinking how easily AI could be manipulated by bad actors to cause some horrific results.
Director Timur Bekmambetov (Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter) smartly keeps the countdown prominent throughout the film to create an easy sense of constant tension for Chris and the audience.
Bekmambetov keeps Mercy moving with a bevy of screens Maddox uses at its disposal to better help Chris make the case for his innocence. While Chris is a stationary hero, the digital investigation allows him to be an active participant in the proceedings thanks to video calls with his daughter Britt (Kylie Rogers, Beau Is Afraid), allies like his partner Jaq (Kali Reis, True Detective) and his AA sponsor Rob (Chris Sullivan, This Is Us) that are brought up like virtual tabs and split screen windows. Crime reconstruction scenes and the realistically advanced tech like Jaq’s high speed hover bike chases provide an additional visual wow factor.
Belle gradually unfolds the story carefully revealing key character details that either help Chris’ case or hurt it. A subplot involving disenfranchised masses huddled in zones under constant police watch comes off more like an attempt to be timely but ultimately doesn’t go anywhere.
Pratt spends most of the movie in the chair, but he still delivers the ideal everyman leading man presence that keeps viewers invested in Chris’ predicament. Is Chris guilty? Is it a mistake or something more sinister?
Mercy lets those questions unfold in a manner that doesn’t just play out like simple hand holding for the audience. Ferguson has to largely play her role flat, but she impressively finds moments to give Judge Maddox slivers of genuine emotion…for an artificial intelligence.
The rest of the ensemble, notably Reis, Sullivan, Rogers, Wallis, Kenneth Choi and Jeff Pierre, play out their roles in a manner to invite suspicion and second guessing who can be trusted.
Mercy is a fun AI thriller that doesn’t advocate or condemn the use of the technology but tackles the topic in a dynamic race against the clock fashion that should entertain audiences willing to give the concept a shot.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Photo Credit: Amazon MGM Studios
To get a sense of one of the influences for Mercy, check out Minority Report on 4K at Amazon.
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