'Mercy' review: You will see Chris Pratt & this sci-fi thriller in court

Amazon MGM Studios

Open wide because Mercy is "inevitable", whether you like it or not. Los Angeles, California, United States. The year is 2029. A man wakes up tied to a chair in a futuristic room after a narrator has bombarded you with exposition about the current state of affairs. Chris Raven (Chris Pratt), a LAPD detective, is being charged with the murder of his wife Nicole (Annabelle Wallis), but he's pretty certain that he's innocent. But times have changed and "justice" is now served by an AI program called Mercy Capital Court, which uses a human avatar judge called Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson) to walk you through the steps. With all signs pointing towards him for the crime, Chris is given 90 minutes to prove his innocence to Maddox and perhaps even solve the case with his detective skills. His colleague Jacqueline "Jaq" Diallo (Kali Reis), friend Rob Nelson (Chris Sullivan) and daughter Britt (Kylie Rogers) become involved as well.

So who is doing the begging here? One of the characters or audience members? We shall find out. Well, let's not keep everyone in suspense because the movie certainly doesn't possess much suspense, which tends to be fatal if you're making a sci-fi thriller. Devoid of importance? Check. Devoid of impressive artistry? Check. Devoid of entertainment value? Check and mate. Written in a half-assed fashion by Marco van Belle and dizzyingly directed by Timur Bekmambetov, Mercy is an astonishingly soulless, passionless and grotesque picture that has nothing to offer. It does have a sleazy premise that you could use to arrange a slick 90-minute B-movie, but the script makes sure it never gets there. The characters are uninteresting, the plotting is contrived, the dialogue is dull and thematically it is dumb as rocks. Recklessly tackling surveillance, technology, privacy and violence against women, this film is incomprehensible and often even reprehensible.

Bless the hearts of VFX artists who at least make the screens Pratt uses somewhat neat visually, but otherwise the whole thing is an eyesore at best. Cinematographer Khalid Mohtaseb shoots everything like he's trying to sabotage not only his career, but also the careers of others. Although, it's not like there's not much to focus on as far as onscreen talent goes. Pratt shows up with yet another one-dimensional, unchallenging performance; Reis and Sullivan read their lines like they're only thinking of what they'll have for lunch; and Rogers' outing is one of the year's worst, adding one more amateurish ingredient to the failed recipe. And if that's not enough, Ferguson quite literally phones it in. At least her appearance in this movie is less racist than the actor's other major role in another Q1 2026 movie, but the career trajectory is nonetheless very disappointing considering Ferguson's fine work on the small screen.

Neither the actors nor the artisans' efforts are helped by Bekmambetov's lacklustre and unkempt direction, which constantly confuses busyness for momentum and Pratt's facial reactions for stellar acting. Normally you'd say it's style over substance, but the helmer's point of view is unstylish on top of the fact that there's nothing meaningful to hold onto here. Being unjustly sentenced to 15 years in prison might be a more appealing option than watching Mercy from beginning to end ever again. These people made a worthless dumpster fire with one of the worst endings of all time.

Smileys: None

Frowneys: Screenplay, direction, acting, cinematography, dialogue

That's so not Raven.

0.5/5

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