MERCY

Set in 2029, Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) wakes up hungover and strapped to a chair in the “Mercy Court”, a futuristic justice system acting as judge, jury, and executioner. Accused of murdering his wife Nicole (Annabelle Wallis), Raven is given 90 minutes by AI entity Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson) to prove his innocence and save his life. He is granted access to surveillance footage, private emails, and social media feeds, and must navigate the mountain of digital data to find the real killer before the clock runs out. Unfolding in real time, this film is a high speed game of cat and mouse that cleverly combines technology with innovative AI. Pratt and Ferguson are mostly restricted to being faces on the screen and I wondered why the writers didn’t render an avatar for the AI judge to fully remove the human element. A constant visible countdown for the 90 minute deadline would’ve ramped up the intensity – instead it appears infrequently as a background prop. While this feels similar in pace and theme to other thrillers (cue ‘Minority Report’) it’s moderate on the predictability scale and I didn’t pick every twist. The inclusion of a final scene skipping to “6 months later” would’ve nicely rounded out the ending. A solid concept that needed slightly stronger cohesiveness to take it to the next level. The air motorcycles were cool though!