“Mercy,” Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson’s newest film, was released this past Friday, Jan. 23. Set in a dystopian near-future, the newly-developed “Mercy” system is as follows: rather than having criminals go to a court with lawyers, juries and a human judge, criminals are sent to “Mercy” court – where they are strapped to a chair and have 90 minutes to convince an AI judge that they are innocent of the crime they were arrested for. If they fail, they die.
From the start, it’s obvious that there will be some flaws with this system. If you go into the film hyper-focused on the AI aspect, you’ll overthink the idea and won’t enjoy the movie. Furthermore, don’t expect a poignant or extremely thought-provoking and original take on AI and its limitations. Instead, if you go into the film expecting a unique and mysterious thriller, you’ll be enthralled from start to finish.
Pratt stars as Detective Chris Raven, on trial for killing his own wife and given 90 minutes to convince AI Judge Maddox (Ferguson) that his likelihood of being guilty is less than 92%. Raven, who cannot remember at the start whether or not he did it due to unknown circumstances, is essentially set up to fail – especially when hearing all the evidence against him. However, at his disposal are all the resources that the AI has available. Living in a society in which all cameras and phones are connected to “the cloud,” the resources he has are plentiful.
Along with the AI resources, he has to use his own knowledge as a detective and connections with fellow police officers and other side characters (like his own daughter) to sufficiently gather enough evidence to prove his innocence. Complicating the story even further is the amount of secrets held by everyone involved, including Raven.
Since most of the film takes place either in the room with Raven, through camera footage or other online sources on the screen in front of him, one might assume that the film would lack action or thrill. This would be a wrong assumption. Somehow, the film expertly uses its materials to create heart-pounding action that, coupled with the mysteriousness of it all, leads to an incredibly exciting movie that is even scary at times. Adding another level of intensity is the 90-minute countdown clock that is visible throughout the film.
The “whodunit” aspect of the story was also done really well. I, for one, never really knew or guessed who the killer was until the reveal – and based on the gasps of the people in the theater with me, they didn’t either. Without spoiling it, the circumstances surrounding the killer are well thought-out and realistic, and makes the murder more complicated than it might seem at the start.
The ending, which breaks out of the one-room formula that most of the film is in, is also tense and unpredictable. The last lines of the film, however, leave a little to be desired. The movie attempts to make its main statement about AI in a way that feels over-explained and doesn’t quite connect to the rest of the film. Since my opinion is to not look into the AI plotpoints so much, this didn’t really work for me.
Overall, the film is a creative thriller that uses AI as an interesting tool for solving a mysterious crime. It delivers action, intrigue and plot twists that will keep a viewer engaged, as long as you don’t think too much about the AI system itself.
Junior Emily Myers is a Copy Editor. Her Email is emyers3@fandm.edu.