'Mercy' Movie Review: Chris Pratt-Rebecca Ferguson’s sci-fi thriller show how AI can be unsettling and close to reality

Director: Timur Bekmambetov

 Language: English

 Cast: Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, Kali Reis, Annabelle Wallis, Chris Sullivan, Kylie Rogers

Set in a near future where human courts have been replaced by an AI-run justice system, Mercy unfolds almost entirely within a high-stakes trial. Evidence is pulled not from witnesses or lawyers, but from a vast digital archive the film calls the “LA Municipal Cloud” — a system that stores everything from surveillance footage to personal device recordings.

  _Mercy_ starts off well and is immersive too, but somewhere down the line the film feels immature and an absolute hotchpotch. Rebecca Ferguson, who plays an AI judge says from the very beginning of the movie that for her, solving the case is totally based on data and facts. She has got nothing to do with emotions or gut-feeling. This film will truly leave you disoriented and make you think whether AI is good or bad or is it that both humans and AI must co-exist to solve cases efficiently and that way justice won’t be delayed.

Mercy is set in the year 2029 when an LA cop finds himself accused of murdering his wife. The film isn’t a master-piece, but at the same time it is watchable and engaging. AI is still an unsettling topic of discussion, but in the case of this film, Mercy, artificial intelligence did help to solve the case. The film clearly shows how to some extent AI and algorithms can help in getting justice, but cannot totally solve it.  The film shows the insidious power of AI and that can be the death knell for people like Chris Reven (Chris Pratt), a LA cop.

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_Mercy_ is indeed a thought-provoking film and shows how unsettling AI can get. The problem starts when Chris Reven (Chris Pratt), an officer with a drinking problem is convicted of the murder of his wife. Now, he is unable to remember a lot of things because admit it or not, he too is confused and the AI judge has all reasons to believe that he is the one who committed the murder. It shows how AI becomes the sole adjudicator of justice, but will he be able to prove himself ‘not guilty’ in this 90-minute trial.

The film shows how difficult it gets for Chris Reven (Chris Pratt) to prove his innocence to an artificial intelligence judge within a limited time. Mercy is thought-provoking no doubt, but scary too when you think of the fact that as to how much power will AI have exactly three years from now.

Rating: 3 (out of 5)

WATCH the trailer of Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson’s ‘Mercy’ here: