Kali Reis stars as Ana in director Timur Bekmambetov’s film MERCY, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo credit: Justin Lubin
© 2025 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Chris Pratt stars as Chris Raven in MERCY, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo credit: Justin Lubin
© 2025 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Rebecca Ferguson stars as Judge Maddox in MERCY, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
What would you do if you had 90 minutes to prove that you didn’t kill your wife, before you were executed for the crime? “Mercy”, a sci-fi thriller movie starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson, centers on a criminal trial in Los Angeles, 2029, where Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) faces the same question.
While the film takes place only a few years in the future, much has changed from the world that we know today. Life is highly mediated, where everyone is required by law to register all of their phone data with the Government, and incredibly high poverty and crime rates have pushed the city to its limits. The Mercy Court, a highly advanced artificial intelligence judge, jury and executioner system, was put into law as the solution. The film follows Chris Raven, a lead detective in the creation of the Mercy Court, who is charged with the murder of his wife, Nicole Raven (Annabelle Wallis). He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence before the judge (Furgeson) determines his fate.
The AI Judge has presided over 18 cases, all of which ended in death sentences. Chris Raven’s trial marks Mercy’s 19th case. Placed inside an immersive, Los Angeles Police Department-run virtual courtroom, Raven must use the limited time to clear his name. To assist him in proving his innocence, Raven has access to vast databases, including police evidence, in a world where nearly everything is tracked and analyzed by the Mercy Court.
The film feels particularly timely. The fact that the story is set only three years in the future adds to its sense of plausibility, blurring the line between speculative fiction and a possible future. While “Mercy” is hopefully exaggerating the speed and severity of AI-driven justice, it reflects growing societal concerns about AI’s ability to hold power over people, without the possibility of human intervention. The AI component immediately drew us in, highlighting both its efficiency and its lack of emotional understanding. Throughout the film, the Judge fights the urge to weigh in on human traits of guilt and doubt but remains constrained by its programming.
Additionally, an interesting theme emerges, as the creator of this deadly program gets tested by it himself. In clips before his trial, Raven seemed completely confident in the ability of the Mercy Court and never doubted that it could be wrong. However, as Raven sits in the AI court, with a score of 98% guilt of the crime, he realizes the flaws of his own creation.
In theaters on Jan. 23 and at only 90 minutes long, “Mercy” is a fast-paced and engaging watch, particularly for fans of murder mysteries and technology-driven thrillers. By the end, we learn that AI isn’t perfect either. As Chris Raven warns us all, “Human or AI, we all make mistakes.”
Contact CU Independent Senior Arts Editor Lou Leclercq at louison.leclercq@colorado.edu and Assistant Arts Editor Addisson Pribble at Addisson.Pribble@colorado.edu
