A big new trailer has dropped for sci-fi action-thriller Mercy, putting Chris Pratt in the hot seat opposite Rebecca Ferguson as an all-seeing A.I. judge. Near-future setting, real-time ticking clock, a man trying to outrun a system he helped build. Watch the trailer above and read on for the details.
90 minutes to live
Set in 2029, Mercy follows detective John (Pratt), who finds himself shackled in a high-tech chamber and accused of murdering his wife. His fate rests in the hands of Maddox, an advanced A.I. judge played by Ferguson, who appears on a towering monitor and coolly interrogates him. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence before the programme, built to act as judge, jury and executioner in capital cases, carries out his sentence.
More on Screen Realm:
As the official synopsis puts it, an A.I. “was created to be the sole judge and executioner for those accused of capital crimes,” with access to every piece of technology used by the nation and its citizens. In other words, John is trying to both work with and outmanoeuvre a system wired into almost everything around him.
This new trailer is a marked improvement on the first. There is more action, a stronger sense of urgency, and the pacing feels punchier without a spoilery feel. Some of the visual effects still look a bit ropey, but there is enough tension and pulpy energy on display that it could land as a fun flick. We’ll see whether it ends up closer to disposable January filler or a surprise sci-fi crowd-pleaser.
Shot like a stage play, built like a countdown
At New York Comic Con in October, as per Deadline, Pratt talked about how the film’s structure fed into the performance. He revealed that the production was staged more like a play, with long stretches unfolding in that single interrogation space and with him literally strapped into the chair you see in the trailer. The setup, he said, created “a natural claustrophobia.”
Also at Comic Con was director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Night Watch). “We live in a world today where AI is knocking on the door and we don’t have time to understand what happened,” Bekmambetov said. “AI could be our enemy, our friend or our child. This ticking clock is metaphorical of the time we live in now.”
Oscar-winning producer Charles Roven (Oppenheimer, The Dark Knight) noted how quickly the film’s conceit went from speculative to uncomfortably close. “We got a pitch from a writer, Marco [van Belle], who wrote the script. When we first got the script, people were talking about AI, and it wasn’t happening yet,” he said. “When we started talking about the movie, all of a sudden companies were dealing with AI, and the future wasn’t definitely not far away. The fact that the movie takes place in 2029, I think every day, every week, every month that goes by, there’s something more that makes our movie true.”
Bekmambetov also had some flair on the production side. Mercy was shot in downtown Los Angeles, including a truck-chase sequence that reportedly took six days to capture. Along with more traditional rigs, the director used bodycams, drones and even robo-dogs to film crowd scenes, baking the story’s surveillance-heavy, tech-saturated vibe into the way the movie was physically shot.
Cast and release dates
Along with Pratt and Ferguson, Mercy‘s cast also includes Kali Reis, Annabelle Wallis, Chris Sullivan and Kylie Rogers.
Mercy opens in Australian cinemas on January 22 and in U.S. cinemas on January 23.
