Movie Review: Mercy

Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) wakes up in a metal chair. In fact, his wrists are locked in to the chair arms. In front of him is a huge flatscreen showing a close-up of a woman’s face (Rebecca Ferguson). She turns out to be an AI.

The AI informs Chris he is on trial, but he already knows what this is. In Los Angeles, the crime and homeless problems have become so bad, the traditional courts were overwhelmed. A new system was put in place: Sophisticated AI judges preside over criminal cases now. A case only lasts 90 minutes, which has cleared the caseload. Oh, and the accused is presumed guilty and has to prove his innocence. The chair nicely doubles as the execution spot.

Chris is accused of the murder of his wife Nicole (Annabelle Wallis). Chris is shocked. He didn’t know she was dead. The courtroom has multiple screens that zoom in, zoom out, and project in 3-D. Footage shows him pulling into work, but abruptly pulling out. He goes to his house, where Nicole forbids him to come in, saying it’s not his house anymore. He goes in. After some minutes, he comes out.

Nicole was stabbed to death. Her blood was found on Chris’ clothing. No one else went in an out during that time period, since their daughter was away. Chris doesn’t remember what happened.

As the case unfolds, it turns out Chris is a lapsed alcoholic. Videos show him in violent bouts of rage. Chris is crushed. He starts to wonder if he did kill Nicole.

But he makes requests for other video footage, as is his right. The AI judge snoops into files in a way we would currently find intrusive—especially with so many cameras around. Think your doorbell cameras are your business? Think again. It turns out Nicole was seeing another man. Chris contacts his partner, Jaq (Kali Reis), as is his right. Jaq takes off on her mini-helicopter, which is slightly larger than a motorcycle. Will this new development help Chris?

I was intrigued by this movie because of the sharp divide in reviews. A very popular site showed the professional reviewers gave a positive rating of only somewhat over 20%. But average viewers gave it over 80%. It’s true that every audience is a selective audience, so it can have its own bias. And yet, this is a science fiction mystery and detective movie starring Chris Pratt. Not a bad bias.

Mercy was an enjoyable thrill ride. The story unfolds in real time, so we watch as Chris desperately tries to figure out what is going on in 90 minutes. It’s interesting to watch Chris Pratt struggle in the chair he’s locked into at each plot twist, looking like his blood pressure is jetting up. And speaking of jetting, the mini-helicopter looks completely real when taking off, flying, and going into a hard landing. Chris sees all this on the multiple screens in the courtroom, while other developments play on others.

Rebecca Ferguson is fascinating at the AI Judge. Her beautiful face says outrageous things to Chris about the judicial process without changing expression. But she suddenly shows emotion at various developments, which is disorienting, as it’s obviously meant to be.

Does the investigation get breakthroughs a little too fast at times? Yes. But they are good at doing some information overload to cover that.

So I’ll side with the rest of the audience in saying Mercy is an enjoyable but disquieting view of a future with Ais given too much of a role in society. As a caution, Chris Pratt’s first few sentences are filled with vulgarities as he tries to figure out what is going on. Thankfully, the rest of the movie doesn’t sound like that.