– for violence, bloody images, some strong language, drug content and teen smoking.
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Starring: Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, Annabelle Wallis, Kylie Rogers, Kali Reis, Chris Sullivan
Running Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
Theatrical Release Date: January 23, 2026
Mercy
Plot Summary
In the near future, a detective stands on trial accused of murdering his wife. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence to the advanced A.I. Judge he once championed, before it determines his fate.
(from IMDb)
Film Review
Certain movies would never work without the right person front and center. For a film like Mercy, you need an actor people won’t mind staring at sitting in a chair for 100 minutes. Enter America’s cinematic darling Chris Pratt. He first captured hearts from the comfort of their couches as the lovable goofball on TV’s Parks and Recreation, and then soared to stardom by starring in a trio of hits starting with Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, The LEGO Movie, and Jurassic World. While he’s been dabbling more in dramatic roles in recent years, like in Amazon’s The Terminal List, he’s probably most commonly associated with comedies. But, make no mistake, Mercy is anything but a comedy.
Mercy takes a page out of the same kind of book that 2018’s Searching used. In that film, the entire movie took place on a computer OS desktop and every “scene” played out as a video clip, video call or browser search. It’s a very contained premise, but it worked really well for the story. Mercy uses a similar idea, utilizing news footage, Ring camera footage, security footage, video calls, bodycam footage, social media, drone footage and more to tell the stories here. The plot revolves around a detective named Chris Raven (is this the first time Chris Pratt is playing a “Chris”?) who is strapped to a chair, sitting before an AI judge (played by Rebecca Ferguson) who has him on trial for murdering his wife. And, with this trial program, titled “Mercy,” the defendant has 90 minutes to be proven innocent or he is sentenced to death in the very chair he’s strapped in. So while Chris is seen in a chair throughout most of the film’s runtime, we do see footage of him out and about via news footage, Ring cameras, bodycams and other sources, filling in the gaps of his backstory and trial.
Pratt is really good in this role. While, again, he’s more commonly utilized for more comedic and charming roles – and I think most audiences would rather see him in roles like that – he proves here he can take on the emotional meat needed for the role. Still, the biggest thing he may have working against himself in this role is that his character isn’t super likeable. We find out plenty about him that makes his character less appealing, but it’s also kind of necessary to the plot to build a case against him. Themes do revolve around making mistakes and doing the right thing to repair them – or at least when it counts most – but overall, the film is pretty heavy thematically in nature.
Most of the supporting cast is good, but you can tell the budget largely went to securing Pratt and Ferguson as the leads. That isn’t to say the special effects and aesthetic of the film aren’t there; they are. It’s just that, most of the rest of the cast is relatively unrecognizable (except maybe “that nice guy who helped Eleven in the pilot of Stranger Things and just takes a bullet for it”). The score is actually really fitting for the film, too, providing just the right soundscape to fuel the tension and ominous nature of the story. I think it’s a pretty good example of a film score that boosts the movie, but probably won’t be enjoyable to listen to outside of the film.
I’m split on whether Rebecca Ferguson made sense for the role of the AI judge. Her contributions to the Mission: Impossible movies made me a fan of hers, and I’ve enjoyed watching her in various projects over the past decade. However, Ferguson is a strong and intense actress, so having her play a more stoic character that isn’t supposed to show emotion seems like a waste of her talents. This is the kind of role that seems tailor-made for anyone who’s ever delivered a performance that has been labeled “robotic” or “wooden.” Still, I like Ferguson, and I didn’t mind seeing her on the big screen opposite Pratt.
The content of 2025’s Mercy is very intense. We saw it on IMAX, so the bigger screen definitely pulls you into the action more. The biggest offender – besides the plot being a murder investigation, with a few rough images – may be the profanity. Pratt utters the film’s lone “F” word, along with a slew of other cusses, including blasphemy — which surprises me given how outspoken he is about his love for Jesus. One of the first profanities he utters is a full “J-sus Chr-st” in exclamation at realizing his situation. There’s also roughly 30 uses of the “S” word, making profanity pretty frequent, among other words and phrases. There’s no graphic sexual content, but we do find out a married woman was having an affair, and there are some references made to it. There is some pretty intense violence shown throughout, including involving terrorist behavior. The central murder investigation focuses on a dead and bloodied woman lying on the floor, and then we see a computer graphic reenactment of a knife going through a human body, piercing organs and hitting the spine. It’s graphic, but shown more in the style of medical or instructional computer renderings. We see footage of Chris in a bar getting arrested and causing a fight to break out, and there are threats of a bomb attack later in the film that show explosions and the aftermath. We also see a large tractor trailer recklessly barreling through the streets during a chase and eventually crashing into a building.
I really enjoyed the thriller aspects of Mercy, but I can also see why the studio dumped it into the graveyard of January cinema. The premise is not going to have broad audience appeal, despite the star power of Pratt and Ferguson (and to be realistic, Pratt isn’t as much of a draw right now as he was, say, 10 years ago – but I still love the guy for sure). The movie is very suspenseful, keeps you interested, and never lets up on the tension even until the end, making Mercy still a decent film to check out in a warm theater on a cold winter day.
– John DiBiase (reviewed: 1/24/26)
Parental Guide: Content Summary
Sex/Nudity: Chris finds out her wife was seeing a man on the side and we see her coming out of a hotel room with a man; Chris finds a video of his daughter Britt having a video call with some guy while he’s in a bathtub, apparently a boyfriend of hers; Several times we hear Britt mention something like getting her “t*ts” scared off or something in a social media video she’s made.
Vulgarity/Language: This is a rough estimate: 1 “F” word, 29 “S” words, 2 “J-sus,” 2 “J-sus Chr-st,” 1 “Oh J-sus,” 3 “g*dd*mn,” 8 “h*ll,” 2 “*ssh*le,” 2 “S.O.B,” 8 “d*mn,” 3 “t*ts,” 3 “Oh my G-d,” 1 “Oh G-d,” 2 “cr*p”
Alcohol/Drugs: It’s a big part of the story that Chris became an alcoholic after a tragedy and went through rehab; Chris goes to a bar and gets drunk and we see him drinking at the bar. He then gets questioned and a fight breaks out as police try to bring him in.
Blood/Gore: We see a dead woman lying on a floor with lots of blood on her clothes and the floor around her; We see close-ups of bloody carpet; We see a medical-style computer animated video of a large knife going into a person’s skeletal body (including organs) and piercing their organs till it hits their spine.
Violence: The movie opens with realistic looking news style footage of riots and other kinds of group violence; We hear about a woman being murdered by stabbing and see bodycam footage of this multiple times; We see footage of Chris getting arrested in a bar and causing a scene, hitting guys with bar stools and trying to run away, with fist fights and such; Cops chase a man across rooftops and then detain him; We see Ring camera footage of Chris showing up at a house and angrily banging a door to be let in; A tractor trailer barrels through the streets, causing people to run away, causing lots of damage and potential injury to bystanders; Police threaten to use a device to stop a truck that could kill those inside it; A bomb apparently goes off, surrounding a person in a chair with flames; A truck crashes through a building; A man threatens a teen with a gun; A person is shot a few times (off camera); And other action violence.
Disclaimer: All reviews are based solely on the opinions of the reviewer. Most reviews are rated on how the reviewer enjoyed the film overall, not exclusively on content. However, if the content really affects the reviewer’s opinion and experience of the film, it will definitely affect the reviewer’s overall rating.
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