MOVIE OF THE WEEK (1/23/26): MERCY

"Ahh man - I can't believe you're making me watch that Jurassic World sequel last year that I wasn't in!" Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) sits before an AI judge, jury and potential executioner as he tries to prove his innocence in a scene from director Timur Bekmabetov's MERCY. Credit: Justin Lubin © 2025 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.

CAST: Chris Pratt | Rebecca Ferguson | Chris Sullivan | Kylie Rogers | Kali Reis | Kenneth Choi | Jeff Pierre | Annabelle Wallis | Rafi Gavron

WRITER: Marco van Belle

DIRECTOR: Timur Bekmabetov 

TRAILER:

THE STORY: Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) is a Los Angeles Police Department detective that helped pioneer the MERCY program, an artificial intelligence – AI – designed to serve as the literal judge, jury and executioner for violent criminals that pushed the city to create "red zones" where the most intense activity exists. So, one can imagine his surprise when he wakes up strapped to a chair in front of "Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson)," an AI judiciary program that tells him he has 90 minutes to reduce his assumed guilt to a 92% or lower threshold. What crime is the crime of which he stands accused? Just the murder of his wife (Annabelle Wallis), the body of whom was discovered by their 16 year-old daughter Britt (Kylie Rogers).

Bewildered and shaken, Chris' initial anger, confusion and disbelief is followed by the realization that if he doesn't get to the bottom of the situation, he will die and his daughter will spend the rest of her life without both parents. (Britt's grandparents, however, seem up to the task.) So, with the help of his partner Jaq Diallo (Kali Reis), his late wife's boss (Chris Sullivan) and all the cameras in the City of Angels, Chris is determined to clear his name and find his wife's killer.

But the clock is ticking - and if he doesn't bring down his presumed guilt, there will be no mercy for him.

THE REVIEW: At first glance, MERCY has the look of a standard "AI is going to be the death of us all" type-of thriller, especially given the film's general lack of star power outside of Pratt and the innocent(?) man-must-prove-his-innocence plot. What makes the film rise above its tropes, however, are not just its twists and turns, but the way director Timur Bekmabetov (Night Watch, Ben-Hur) rises above them, tackling them with more plausibility than often found in films of its ilk. Likewise, Pratt delivers a performance with a suitable character arc that, while it won't win him any new fans (especially not those more concerned with his off-screen affairs and beliefs), won't lose him any, either.

Through Bekmabetov's lens, you are immersed in Chris Raven's world, a facet which draws you into the movie more than the dialogue itself ever could or would. In doing so, you get to watch as he processes information in real time (or as real as it could be within the guidelines of the premise). Pratt's character's actions aren't stereotypical in any fashion; if they were, the movie would fail miserably long before the clock expires. Likewise, the action sequences are all purposeful and not explosions, crashes or violence happening for the sake of needing time fillers; each sequence adds depth and layers to the story to make it enthralling. 

In short, while it's not going to win any awards, MERCY is far better than you might expect it to be, delivering a smart mix of thrills, mystery and intelligently directed drama. As opposed to being another AI-overloaded drama, it instead delivers old-school whodunit intrigue with modern bells and whistles. Whether or not audiences show it mercy at the box office amid a sea of new releases, however, remains to be seen. 

RATING (OUT OF FOUR BUCKETS OF POPCORN):