Mercy (on Prime) is set in a near-future LA with a brutal new judicial system: Mercy Court. If you’re a murder suspect, you get 90 minutes in an electric chair to prove you’re innocent before the sentence is carried out. To help your case, you get access to "The Cloud," a surveillance network that legally monitors every piece of tech in the city. The movie stars Chris Pratt as Detective Chris Raven, who has to argue his life against an AI named Judge Maddox (played by Rebecca Ferguson).
There will be spoilers beyond this point.
Reading the reviews on Letterboxd, I was surprised by the low rating (2.5 stars out of 5 at the time I am writing this). I enjoyed the movie and personally gave it a 4/5.
A lot of the negative commentary that I read was expressing dislike for the "AI copaganda" (as in, stating that the movie is blatantly pro AI and pro cops). I felt that the story was more complex than that; I didn't see it this way.
The movie’s setup is super unique—it’s just Chris and Judge Maddox in one room, so we’re basically learning the truth alongside the AI. For most of the film, Chris is stuck with a 98% guilt probability for Nicole’s murder since we only see exactly what the characters see.
Between constant surveillance from The Cloud, Ring footage of Chris storming into the house angry, and her blood on his shirt, things look pretty bad for him. Plus, with their marriage falling apart and footage showing him as the only person to enter or leave during the murder, he's basically the perfect suspect.
As the truth trickles out, Chris discovers Nicole’s affair, but chasing that lead burns 30 minutes of his clock just to clear the guy’s alibi. However, the affair reveals Nicole was stressed about chemicals being stolen from her plant for meth and bombs. It is important to note that Chris’s sponsor, Rob, is actually Nicole’s boss at that same plant.
They’d hosted a BBQ for her coworkers the Sunday before, and through a video on his daughter’s phone, they realize someone never left and was hiding in the basement. Turns out it was Rob. The AI then digs through his emails, proving he wasn't just stealing the chemicals—he was the one who killed Nicole.
Up to this point, I am immersed in the movie due to the intensity of the story. However, this is where the movie loses me a little bit and why I took off one star from my review.
They discover that someone is hiding in the basement through the video-- but we've seen them use the Ring doorbell multiple times. They could've watched and kept track of who left to figure out who was still there. Instead, they waste 20-30 minutes of his trial trying to figure out who it was through other means.
After they figure out that it was Rob, Chris checks on his daughter and discovers that Rob kidnapped her in a semi truck filled with the chemicals (turned into a bomb) and plans drive it into the Mercy Court building. Chris's guilt percent has now become 0%, but the AI agrees to continue letting him use The Cloud resources until the timer runs out.
To top it all off, we find out Rob’s brother was actually executed by Mercy Court for a crime he didn’t commit. In a wild twist, Chris’s own partner suppressed the evidence that would’ve cleared him—she basically wanted the system to have a 100% "guilty" rate so people wouldn't lose faith in it. Rob ended up framing Chris as revenge, since Chris was the one who originally arrested his brother.
That part lost me too. While Rob’s revenge motive felt real, the partner destroying evidence to let an innocent man die felt totally off. The whole point of Mercy Court is to give suspects a genuine chance, not just offer false hope. Honestly, it felt like a cheap cop-out just to tie all the loose ends together.
The movie's big takeaway is that AI and cold evidence can’t be the only things defining a person’s character. Chris constantly trips up the AI using human instinct, showing that the "Mercy Court" system definitely has some bugs to fix and shouldn’t be the final judge of a person's life.
On a personal note, I think the whole system is totally unfair. Chris is a literal detective—he knows exactly how to hunt for clues. A regular person wouldn't have a clue how to use The Cloud to save themselves like he did.
Overall, I liked it, even with the logic gaps at the end. It’s a solid look at our AI-centered future and proves that when it comes to the law, you still need that human touch.
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Annie
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