‘Mercy’ trailer
The trailer for Amazon MGM Studios’ ‘Mercy,’ starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov.
If you’re like me, you watch movies as an escape. Whether it’s at the cinema or at home, it’s a chance to put down your phone and go somewhere else for two hours. But in the digital age, there is a growing subgenre of films in which the so-called ‘escape’ takes place on phone and computer screens. Apparently there’s a name for this, which I was completely unaware of (thanks ChatGPT!); it’s called screen life.
Examples include horror films like 2014’s ‘Unfriended’, thrillers like 2018’s ‘Searching’ and 2022’s ‘Missing’, as well as last year’s critically acclaimed remake of ‘War of the Worlds’. In case you missed it, there’s an episode of “Modern Family” that takes a page out of the screenlife playbook.
Interestingly, all of those screenlife films I cited were produced by Kazakh-Russian filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov, a pioneer in the subgenre who is now out with his new screenlife film, “Mercy.”
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Chris Pratt stars as Chris Raven in Amazon MGM Studios’ ‘Mercy’. (Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios)
“Mercy” follows Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) who is accused of killing his wife. But instead of standing trial, he must prove his innocence to Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson), an AI-generated judge who doubles as jury and executioner.
It is set in the not-too-distant Los Angeles, where rampant crime had become an epidemic, and the local government implemented the Mercy justice system which it claims reduces crime in the city. An early champion of the AI program, Raven now follows 18 others who ultimately met their fate in the same chair he was confined to.
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Based on the available evidence, Maddox estimates Raven’s guilt at 97.5%. He must convince her to lower that rating to 92%, which she believes would create enough reasonable doubt to let him go within 90 minutes or face immediate execution. At his disposal is virtually all the cloud data from the entire city – cell phone data, emails, security camera footage, you name it – which by law must be part of the Mercy system. He can also make phone calls, like with his daughter, his LAPD partner, and his AA sponsor (no movie detective would be complete without a drinking problem, amirite?).
Rebecca Ferguson stars as Judge Maddox in Amazon MGM Studios’ “Mercy.”
For almost the entire film, Chris Pratt is tied to a chair, while Rebecca Ferguson serves as a digital reminder of the ticking clock he has to prove his innocence. It’s a bit like “12 Angry Men,” but instead of an 11-to-1 jury returning a guilty verdict, it’s an AI judge who has to be swayed by the defendant, who seems extremely guilty at the beginning of the film. As Raven is told, “Mercy makes no mistakes.”
I have to admit, I’m not a fan of movie life, and ‘Mercy’ is a perfect example of why. It’s self-inhibiting from a visual and narrative perspective. It makes performers do more to tell than show, resulting in a more artificial expository dialogue. And it’s hard to see the appeal of movies set on phone, computer and tablet screens when our lives are already dominated by phone, computer and tablet screens.
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Kali Reis stars as Ana in director Timur Bekmambetov’s film ‘Mercy’ from Amazon MGM Studios.
Bekmambetov has lived off the screen, directing action films like “Wanted” and “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” but perhaps he sees a market for life movies, especially since they come with modest budgets. The cost to make “Mercy” was likely a small fraction of the Pratt-led franchises like “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Jurassic World.” So from the perspective of both Bekmambetov and Amazon MGM Studios, it’s a no-brainer.
Pratt and Ferguson both do fine, but their talents can do so much in this format, especially with a tepid screenplay from Marco van Belle. Here they just dial it in – pun intended.
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Chris Pratt stars as Chris Raven in Amazon MGM Studios’ ‘Mercy’. (Justin Lubin)
The verdict:
Despite its decent and timely AI premise, ‘Mercy’ is a rather forgettable sci-fi thriller that falls into the movie doldrums we normally expect in January. Chris Pratt’s star power isn’t enough to keep his film from getting the death penalty.
★★ — SKIP
“Mercy” is rated PG-13 for violence, gory images, strong language, drug content and teen smoking. Playing time: 1 hour and 40 minutes. Now in cinemas.
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