4.5/5
Review by John P. Harvey.
A blend of detective thriller, courtroom drama, and high-energy science-fiction action, Mercy is set in a United States of the near future in which the Government’s long-term neglect of its poorest constituents in favour of law & order has resulted in large lawless ghetto zones. To escalate its control, the State, on the basis that prompt justice is good justice, has “fast-tracked” judicial proceedings in crimes that it declares warrant the death penalty, introducing a court run entirely by an artificial intelligence. Presiding over this special court, the ironically named Mercy Court, is an A.I. that also acts as jury and executioner and is named Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson).
Judge Maddox is smart and well informed: as well as the evidence already before it, it has access, and can provide the defendant with relevant access, to data from CCTV cameras, from all connected computer systems, and from everybody’s connected mobile devices. And this is a court that, according to Judge Maddox, does not make mistakes.
But the defendant has an uphill battle. Presumed guilty until proven innocent, he or she must know what evidence to look for and must work that out and make a persuasive case, without benefit of legal representation, within the limits of the trial period; and that period is just 90 minutes. At the end of the 90 minutes, no appeal is available; a guilty verdict results in immediate execution. Facing such obstacles, it’s hardly surprising that the first 18 defendants did not live beyond their trials.
The 19th defendant is surprised to find himself on trial. The best-known proponent of this programmed judiciary, Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) wakes from a bender to find himself accused of murder and with unfortunately little recollection of the critical period. He has just 90 minutes in which to gather the evidence that could save his life.
Mercy uses the high-stakes trial as a springboard for the film’s investigative and pursuit action, which occurs as the clock ticks down without pause for anything, including delays in obtaining camera footage and even glitches in the A.I. itself.
With a great plot, well-scripted believable characters, and special effects that make it an action movie and an exploration of our near technological future as much as it is a murder mystery and courtroom drama, Mercy offers a glimpse into a disturbingly probable tomorrow whose inhabitants view their society as inevitable as we view ours today.
The movie’s mood is, if tense, upbeat. The pace never lets up until the final scene, but the sharpness of Detective Raven’s mind minutes after regaining consciousness, as well as the competence and equipment with which the police force pursues its calling despite the mayhem unleashed on it, may well inspire a new generation of potential detectives. The real drawcard, though, aside from great graphics and music to match, is the rapidly unfolding plot.
Without seeming to intend to, the movie raises a number of underlying questions: of the relative values of fact and interpretation in understanding crimes; of overwhelming circumstantial evidence versus certainty; of the effects on all this of presumptions and the burden of evidence; and of the value of questioning and challenging the authority that orders others to implement critical decisions. It’s not easy to judge on which side of the A.I. fence writer and director fall, but Mercy makes certain that its thinking audience will consider the possibilities.