Mercy (2026)
In a future Los Angeles, Detective Raven (Chris Pratt) finds himself in a court with an AI judge (Rebecca Ferguson), where he needs to prove his innocence within 90 minutes or he will be immediately executed in the new thriller Mercy.
Detective Raven is a relapsed alcoholic who had a confrontation with his estranged wife (Annabelle Wallis) shortly before she was stabbed to death in their home. Evidence points to Detective Raven, who drank so heavily he does not remember what happened at the time of the murder. The AI court has access to citizens' social media accounts, phone records, and cameras throughout the city. This is the evidence he must sort through to prove his innocence.
One of the film's biggest problems is Pratt is miscast as the lead. The viewers need to think Detective Raven might have actually killed his wife. The actor playing that role must be able to convey a darker side. However, that is not in Pratt's skillset. He's fun as the goofy, raffishly charming Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy, but he doesn't have the brooding darkness necessary to make this role work (Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy all could've been better fits for what the part required). Ferguson fares better as the AI judge who slowly starts to doubt itself.
Mercy
zips
along quickly enough, but it would've been better served to explore the ethical
issues of AI justice and guilty-until-proven-innocent courts more. It did not
need to turn into a philosophical drama, but the far superior Minority
Report proved an action-packed thriller can take these issues seriously.
