Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Cast: Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, Kali Reis, Annabelle Wallis, Chris Sullivan, Kylie Rogers
Screenplay: Marco van Belle
100 mins. Rated PG-13 for violence, bloody images, some strong language, drug content and teen smoking.

The screenlife form of filmmaking has been more popularly used since 2018’s tense Searching. For those out of the know, screenlife is when an entire film (or at least a large portion) exists on a computer screen, we see the clicking and searching (and often, video calling) that takes place on the screen, and a general narrative is derived from that. The aforementioned Searching (and its pseudo-sequel, Missing), along with the Unfriended films and the much-maligned War of the Worlds from last year have all used screenlife, and now Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) brings us the dystopian thriller Mercy. Sadly, this sci-fi courtroom procedural is no Searching.

Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt, Avengers: Infinity War) has awakened restrained in a chair in a dark room as a voice overhead informs him that he is being tried by Mercy Corp for the murder of his wife Nicole (Annabelle Wallis, X-Men: First Class). Chris was found drunk with no memory of the events of that morning, but he’s the only person seemingly that could’ve entered the home. Now, with AI Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson, Dune) proceeding and the probability of Chris’s guilt set to over 97%, Chris has 90 minutes to convince Judge Maddox to lower his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or face immediate sentencing…death.

I don’t inherently think Mercy is a bad idea for a film, and I don’t think the screenlife form is a bad idea for its execution, but the problems with Mercy are, at their core, stemming from a poorly realized screenplay and some lackluster direction from Bekmambetov. Marco van Belle’s script is lacking a clever and captivating mystery, and the central conceit that the accused is only given 90 minutes to prove innocence without a single moment of prep is laughable. I’m not sure where the idea of 92% guilty is the burden for reasonable doubt, but the number fluctuates seemingly at random with new developments, but there are more than a few reveals which feel far more cut and dry than a 1% shift in guilt. It feels pretty obvious where the twists and turns are hiding, and certain scenes are too overtly written as setting up reveals. The writing for Detective Chris Raven (not a great character name) give him way more opportunity for his defense than anyone else, purely because he’s a cop.

Reactor videos suck. No disrespect if you like watching YouTube of someone reacting to their first watch of Blazing Saddles or the like, but there’s nothing of value to be gained. Mercy often feels like a reactor video, with Chris Raven just watching footage and video and the viewer (us) just watching him watch. It ruins the forward momentum and pacing of the narrative, and Timur Bekmambetov, quite known for his visual audacity, seemingly asleep at the wheel. Normally, when a film has too much plot or repetition, we talk about the importance of the montage, but in this case, there’s too much montage of information and not enough plot to be covered. Bekmambetov, who did incredible work with Night Watch, Wanted, (and let’s hold up a mug to cheers Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), but here, he’s devoid of visual flourish, with screens flashing left/right, up/down, forward/backward, all in service of the film’s 3D IMAX release, but it feels more nauseating than anything else.

It takes a rough production to make Rebecca Ferguson look bored, but Mercy aims high and misses the mark. Chris Pratt needed a director to pull out a better performance, but even with that, there’s not much to work with here. It’s overwrought and by-the-numbers climax is simplistic and boring. Mercy is far from the highs of Searching, but I still think there’s life in the screenlife form, and it could’ve worked here. Sadly though, Mercy is 97.5% a misfire. Guilty as charged.

1.5/5
-Kyle A. Goethe