Timur Bekmambetov’s latest takes his fascination with so-called “screenlife” storytelling, most recently (and most appallingly) realised in last year’s irredeemable War of the Worlds (which he produced), in a much more appealing direction. This new AI-inspired thriller is in many ways the next generation of found footage film-making, with much of its twisty narrative unfolding via “accessed footage”.
In 2029, LA’s crime problem has been partly solved by the introduction of an AI justice system called Mercy. Criminals are faced with the overwhelming evidence of their crimes and allowed 90 minutes to prove their innocence. Chris Pratt plays sozzled cop Chris Raven, who wakes up to find himself strapped into the Mercy seat and confronted by the system’s AI interface Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson).
Raven’s wife Nicole is dead and all the visual evidence suggests that he’s the perp. Despite the rocky state of his marriage, he knows he didn’t kill Nicole. Faced with Mercy’s probability rating that he’s the killer, he’s given the chance to clear his name by accessing CCTV footage, mobile phone data, drones and anything else that might help him save his own skin.
It’s a dizzying whirl of a film, leaping nimbly across images lifted from a hundred sources. At first it’s a slightly disconcerting conceit, but once we’re on board with the way the narrative unfolds, we’re invited to relax and enjoy the deft spins and turns of the plot. Pratt’s performance as the embattled cop is a refreshing change from his usual everyman hero schtick and Rebecca Ferguson is as faultless as ever as the AI that sometimes seems a bit too human.
Mercy won’t be anyone’s film of the year and it’s almost designed to be totally forgotten within in a month, but it’s brisk and action-packed and, despite the fact that its hero is strapped to a chair for much of its runtime, the film itself never sits still. If you can suspend your disbelief high enough, it’s sure to win you over with its restless energy and visual inventiveness.
MERCY is on general release in cinemas now.
