Mercy Review: I walked into Mercy expecting a slick, nerve-wracking AI thriller. You know the type: big ideas, uncomfortable questions, the kind of movie that sticks in your head while you’re brushing your teeth later that night.
Instead, I walked out thinking, “Well… that sure was a movie.” Not a disaster. Not unwatchable. Just aggressively fine, and that might be worse.
My Rating: 2.5/5
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Movie Title | Mercy |
| Genre | Sci-Fi, Thriller |
| Starring | Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson |
| Director | Timur Bekmambetov |
| Runtime | ~1h 40m |
| Language | English |
The Setup Is the Best Part (And That’s a Problem)
The premise is strong. Honestly, too strong for what the movie ends up doing with it. Chris Pratt plays a cop thrown into a new justice system where there are:
- no lawyers
- no jury
- no appeals
Just an AI judge and a chair that fries you if you can’t prove your innocence in 90 minutes. That’s it. That’s the hook. And it’s a damn good one.
The movie even commits to the gimmick: it runs almost in real time. There’s an on-screen clock. Ninety minutes in the chair equals roughly ninety minutes of runtime. I’ll give it credit, I didn’t check my watch once. Mostly because the movie was already doing it for me.
At first, I was in. The tension is there. The countdown works. You feel the pressure. And then… the cracks start showing.
Chris Pratt Does What Chris Pratt Always Does
Chris Pratt is not the problem here. He’s reliable. He knows how to sell panic, frustration, and that familiar “I didn’t do this, I swear” energy. He’s played the funny guy, the action guy, and the funny action guy for years now, and he knows exactly how to carry a movie like this.
He makes the most out of the material he’s given. The issue is, the material isn’t nearly as smart as it thinks it is.
Rebecca Ferguson plays the AI, and yeah, she’s good. Calm. Controlled. Unsettling in a polite, almost hypnotic way. And let’s be honest: if you wanted the public to accept an invasive AI overlord, making it look and sound like Rebecca Ferguson is a pretty effective strategy.
Halfway through, I caught myself thinking, “Yeah… I’d probably trust her judgment too.” That’s either good casting or deeply concerning.
The Mercy Movie Wants to Scare You — It Just Doesn’t Try Hard Enough
Here’s where Mercy really drops the ball. This movie should be terrifying. An AI that can:
- access your phone
- pull private footage without consent
- tap into home security systems
- reconstruct your life to judge your guilt
That’s not sci-fi anymore. That’s Tuesday. But instead of leaning into that horror, the movie just… assumes you’ll be scared because the idea exists. It never really pushes it. Never digs deeper. Never asks the truly uncomfortable questions.
It ends up feeling like a watered-down Minority Report. And that’s a rough comparison, because Minority Report still lives rent-free in my head decades later. That movie messes with you. It asks questions you can’t shake.
Mercy introduces those same ideas and then kind of shrugs.
The AI Is Too Dumb for Its Own Premise
This part really bothered me. The movie keeps telling us how powerful and advanced this AI system is. The visuals even lean into that whole “quantum computer doom scrolling aesthetic.” This thing is supposed to be insanely fast and intelligent.
So why does it need 90 minutes? Realistically, this AI could’ve processed everything Chris Pratt fumbles through in about half a second. Phone data, video footage, timelines, done.
Which leads to the obvious, unspoken truth: If the AI worked the way the movie says it does, there wouldn’t be a movie. And that’s always a dangerous place to be. You start noticing plot holes instead of feeling tension. You stop worrying about the character and start questioning the logic. Once that happens, the spell is broken.
There Is a Sweet Spot… Briefly
I’ll be fair. There’s a stretch, I call it the Goldilocks zone, where the movie almost has me. It’s not boring. It’s not stupid. It feels like it’s building toward something interesting.
For a moment, I thought, “Okay, maybe this is going somewhere bold.” And then the third act hits.
The Final Act Is Accidental Comedy
I don’t think the movie realizes how ridiculous it becomes toward the end. Out-of-character decisions. Over-the-top moments. Plot twists you can see coming from space. It stops being tense and starts being unintentionally funny.
I won’t spoil specifics, but I promise you: there were moments where I had to stop myself from laughing, not because it was clever, but because it was absurd. By the time the credits rolled, I wasn’t angry. I was just… indifferent. And that might be the worst outcome of all.
Also Read: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 1 Review: A Surprisingly Grounded Game of Thrones Spin-Off
Theatrical Experience? Streaming Is Fine
People love saying, “Movies should be seen on the big screen.” Sure. Sometimes. Mercy? This one would’ve been perfectly fine at home.
Yes, it’s in 3D, and yeah, there are moments clearly designed for floating visuals and empty digital courtrooms that look like a rejected Star Trek: Picard set. But none of it feels essential. This is a streaming movie wearing theatrical clothes.
The Good & Bad In Mercy
| What Works | What Doesn’t |
|---|---|
| Strong premise | Wasted potential |
| Chris Pratt is solid | Predictable story |
| Rebecca Ferguson’s AI presence | AI logic doesn’t hold up |
| Real-time structure | Weak third act |
| Decent tension early on | Forgettable overall |
Final Verdict On Mercy
Mercy had 90 minutes to prove itself. And it didn’t. It’s not terrible. It’s not offensive. It’s just painfully safe for a movie about an AI that decides whether you live or die.
If you’re curious, watch it. You probably won’t hate it. But don’t be surprised if you forget about it the next day, because I already did. If you want an AI thriller that actually sticks with you, go revisit the classics. Back when AI was the bad guy, and Hollywood wasn’t afraid of hurting its feelings.
Now I’m curious, did Mercy work for you, or did you see the twist coming a mile away too? And what’s your favorite AI thriller of all time?