MERCY Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Stars: Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, Kali Reis, Chris Sullivan, Kylie Rogers, Annabelle Wallis.
Mercy is the latest film from Russian born filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov, who has established his career with a series of high concept, special effects driven action films including Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, etc.
Mercy is set in the not-too-distant dystopian future of 2029 when everybody is required to connect all their devices to the cloud so that every interaction can be recorded. Los Angeles has become a cesspool of crime and the justice system is overcrowded. To save both money and time the authorities have established the Mercy Court, an A.I. driven court. People charged with a crime are automatically assumed to be guilty and have just 90 minutes in which to prove their innocence or be executed via a fatal sonic pulse. The AI judge hearing the case has the ability to access all sorts of digital footprints, from mobile phone calls to social media accounts and records to CCTV footage and dashcam footage in the search for evidence. Since the introduction of this AI court system crime has fallen by 68%, according to the voice over introduction.
When the film opens detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt, from Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy franchise, etc), a strong advocate for the establishment of the court, wakes up from a drunken stupor to find himself sitting in the chair before the court. He has been accused of murdering his estranged wife Nicole (Annabelle Wallis). Raven has a drinking problem and also suffers from anger management issues ever since the death of his former partner. That he was arrested in a bar and attacked the arresting officers doesn’t help his pleas of innocence or his defence. Even his teenaged daughter Britt (Kylie Rogers) has a hard time believing in his innocence given the negative coverage of the case in the media.
Hearing the case is the AI judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson, from the Mission: Impossible franchise, etc). She is just interested in the facts of the case. Raven has just 90 minutes to reduce his “guilt score” to 92% for a reasonable doubt verdict.
Through a series of video calls, he connects with his AA sponsor Rob (Chris Sullivan) and works with his current partner officer Jac Diallo (former boxer turned actress Kali Reis, from the tv series True Detective: Night Country, etc) to sift through the clues, visit the crime scene and produce a number of viable suspects to investigate.
Written by Marco van Belle (Arthur & Merlin, etc), Mercy seemingly unfolds in real time, with a ticking digital clock in the corner of the screen reminding both Chris and the audience of the passing time, which adds to the tension of this race against time scenario. But the film also explores how AI technology is fallible and open to manipulation, something that writers and artists have been warning us about for years. Nor is AI a substitute for human emotions and logic, especially in a courtroom setting.
Visually, the film is quite interesting with the use of multiple pop-up AI generated screens and imagery that Raven uses to piece together the details of the crime. However, this use of multiple screens and devices will remind audiences of films like the 2018 thriller Searching, which Bekmambetov produced. Cinematographer Khalid Mohtaseb has done a superb job with the visuals. There are some great production values here, and the sleek flying police quadbike is an interesting device.
In some ways this high-tech crime thriller is a companion piece to Steven Spielberg’s 2002 drama Minority Report. However, the film descends into cliché by the end as it centres around a high speed and destructive car chase through the streets of Los Angeles. Bekmambetok directs with his usual robust energy and maintains a fast pace throughout.
Pratt brings his usual sweaty and jokey presence to his role, and he wavers between a sense of desperation and calm determination. To give him his due he spends most of the running time strapped to a chair, so he doesn’t get to involve himself in much physical stuff until the climax. Ferguson brings a stoic reserve, icy no-nonsense style and bland persona to her role as the AI judge, although she does reveal a few moments in which it is clear that Maddox is actually thinking and evolving as she evaluates both the evidence and Raven’s desperate pleas.
Mercy is not perfect by any means, but it is an entertaining time waster.
★★★
