“Mercy” Delivers An Intriguing Concept That Lacks Tension and Falls Flat

In the near future, a detective stands trial accused of murdering his wife. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence to the advance A.I. judge he once championed, before it determines his fate.

For those who may or may not remember, Amazon MGM released this high-concept movie a couple months ago and the initial reactions of this movie really divided both critics and audiences. While the initial critical reviews were mixed to negative, it seemed that some audiences really didn’t mind the movie. So, is the critically planned “Mercy” really that bad?

When I first saw the trailer for “Mercy”, I thought it looked generally alright and the A.I. judge concept could be rather on the interesting side. Now, while the movie’s overall premise and concept should be intriguing, it can actually be rather dull at times and falls completely flat.

Now, I’ll admit there are a couple small tense moments here and there during the A.I. Mercy Court sequences, especially when we get introduced to their “guilt until proven innocent” idea, which actually is an interesting part of this concept. It’s just not executed that well and you would possibly think that the A.I. would already know whether the detective is guilty or not with all the video access it has … unless I’m over thinking it!

Even though the A.I. concept needed some work, the “screen-life” thriller aspect can actually be a little engaging at times and timely due to the increasing use of A.I. today. Just like last year’s best movie of the year (just a joke - it’s actually April Food’s Day as I’m typing this) “War of the Worlds,” the “screen-life” format uses surveillance footage, body cams and many digital interfaces to help tell the story. And, just like “War of the Worlds,” this format can get old really quick.

One thing I will give “Mercy” a little credit for is that the concept of the movie is told in real time and that actually helps keep the pace moving. The first few moments of the movie is actually a somewhat promising start since we already get to see how things are

for detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt), yet the rest of the movie (including the final act and most of the reveals) just falls completely flat and not really interesting.

But, there is a scene towards the end where we see a semi-truck speeding down the freeway with the goal of crashing into the Mercy Court building that gives the movie a much needed bit of intensity. So, there’s that!

“Mercy” is one of those movies that would’ve been perfect as a streaming release, instead of theatrical. The movie, produced and distributed through Amazon/MGM, is a “technical showcase” that lacked the narrative strength to make its high-tech, real-time and A.I. gimmicks truly effective.

MPA: Rated PG-13 for violence, bloody images, some strong language, drug content and teen smoking   (runtime 99 minutes)

Initial release date: January 23, 2026

Streaming services: Amazon Prime Video/various PVOD services

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSS4yqd0x6o