In Review: Mercy (Amazon Prime)

Synopsis: Set in a near-future version of Los Angeles, Mercy tells the story of a police detective who finds himself on trial for murder in front of an A.I.-controlled court system, where he is given just 90 minutes to prove his innocence.

The Story

The film’s story begins with Detective Chris Raven waking up strapped to a chair inside the courtroom of America’s new justice system, known as Mercy, which is overseen by the A.I. judge Maddax. He is informed that he is on trial for the murder of his wife, Nicole, but insists he could not have committed the crime and has no memory of the morning’s events.

As he begins to regain his senses following a heavy night of drinking, Raven makes use of the A.I. system’s many resources in an attempt to solve the crime himself. With only a limited amount of time to prove his innocence, he starts reviewing mobile phone records, Ring doorbell footage, and various surveillance logs, using both the system’s data and his own instincts as a detective to piece together what really happened.

As the investigation unfolds, Raven slowly realises that the murder of his wife, and the fact that he now faces a death sentence, may be an act of revenge connected to the very first case he helped Mercy’s A.I. system secure a conviction on.

Acting

Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson work well together in their respective roles as Chris Raven and Judge Maddox. Ferguson does a brilliant job of conveying the cold, unemotional nature of the A.I. system, whose only real interest is in reaching the truth, while Raven’s frustration with a machine that lacks humanity and cannot understand human intuition is played out convincingly by Pratt.

We also get strong supporting performances from Kali Reis, who plays Raven’s partner JAQ Diallo, and Chris Sullivan as Rob Nelson, Raven’s Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor. Both characters help ground the story by giving Raven people he can trust while everything around him begins to fall apart.

Kenneth Choi, best known to many viewers from the hit series 9-1-1, also delivers a solid performance as Raven’s former police partner, adding another layer to the backstory that slowly unfolds as the investigation progresses.

Overall

Mercy is a fun detective thriller with some clever plotting and a few well-placed twists along the way. The film also highlights some of the potential flaws of relying too heavily on A.I. systems without a degree of human oversight, which gives the story a little more weight than a standard genre thriller.

What makes the film interesting is that it does not present the technology as entirely good or entirely bad. Instead, it shows both the advantages and the dangers of allowing artificial intelligence to take control of something as serious as the legal system. Because of this, the movie could easily spark discussion about how A.I. should be integrated into real-world government and justice systems, and whether there should always be a human element involved in the final decision.