**“Mercy”**, the new science fiction thriller starring Chris Pratt, arrives in theaters in January 2026 promising a futuristic, breathtaking plot, but delivers a visually tiring and narratively conservative experience. The film, directed by Timur Bekmambetov, casts Pratt in the role of Detective Chris Raven, who must prove his innocence in a murder within a judicial system entirely operated by a homonymous artificial intelligence. The premise, however, which could raise urgent debates about surveillance and technology, ends up defending problematic ideas amidst a found-footage aesthetic that may cause nausea in the viewer.
With the plot set in a futuristic Los Angeles transformed into a surveillance state, Detective Raven has only 90 minutes to escape an automatic death sentence. To do this, he navigates through a multitude of images from security cameras, \*bodycams\*, and social media, all accessible through the “municipal cloud.” Despite the high concept, the execution is flawed: much of the film boils down to close-ups of Pratt strapped to a chair, with quick cuts and grayish cinematography that do little to explore the potential of the premise. Thus, what could have been a sharp critique ends up sounding like a questionable defense of mass surveillance.
## Nauseating Aesthetic and Confused Message
One of the biggest problems with “Mercy” lies precisely in its presentation. Despite being “filmed for IMAX,” the experience is described as potentially “migraine-inducing” due to the rapid and constant zaps between different video sources. The editing, credited to a team of six editors, creates a sensation of navigating the web chaotically, which distracts more than it immerses. Meanwhile, the narrative, which initially focuses on the trial, takes a turn in the third act into a physical attack on the Mercy system, with action scenes filmed in Los Angeles. However, this change of pace is not enough to save the whole.
The film ultimately tries to argue that human intuition is irreplaceable, even in a world dominated by AI. However, this message gets lost by glorifying the police’s unlimited access to all surveillance data. The conclusion, therefore, is more disturbing than inspiring, raising ethical questions that the work itself seems to ignore. In a moment where the debate about the limits of artificial intelligence is global and crucial, “Mercy” opts for a superficial path, focusing on a conventional criminal mystery and missing the chance to explore the real implications of the future it imagines.
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