Mercy

2026

Action / Crime / Drama / Mystery / Sci-Fi / Thriller

75
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 83% · 176 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 83% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.1/10 10 31432 31.4K

race against time mission artificial intelligence (a.i.) bomb kidnapping los angeles, california

Plot summary

In the near future, a detective stands on trial accused of murdering his wife. He has ninety minutes to prove his innocence to the advanced AI Judge he once championed, before it determines his fate.

Director

Timur Bekmambetov Photo
Timur Bekmambetov

Top cast

Noah Fearnley Photo
Noah Fearnley as Tattooed Sleazebag
Rebecca Ferguson Photo
Rebecca Ferguson as Judge Maddox
Chris Pratt Photo
Chris Pratt as Chris Raven
Annabelle Wallis Photo
Annabelle Wallis as Nicole Raven
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 1080p.WEB 2160p.WEB
954.31 MB
1280*582
English 2.0
PG-13
Subtitles de   es   fr   in   it   ja   kn   ml   pl   pt   ta   te   tr   cz   dk   us   fi   hu   no   nl   ro   sv  
24 fps
1 hr 43 min
Seeds 100
1.91 GB
1920*872
English 5.1
PG-13
Subtitles de   es   fr   in   it   ja   kn   ml   pl   pt   ta   te   tr   cz   dk   us   fi   hu   no   nl   ro   sv  
24 fps
1 hr 43 min
Seeds 100
1.74 GB
1920*872
English 5.1
PG-13
Subtitles de   es   fr   in   it   ja   kn   ml   pl   pt   ta   te   tr   cz   dk   us   fi   hu   no   nl   ro   sv  
24 fps
1 hr 43 min
Seeds 100
4.63 GB
3840*2160
English 2.0
PG-13
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 43 min
Seeds 100

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by MountainWatch 6 / 10

Another Movie Made for Phone Screen

Before the review-did anyone else notice that a theme melody in the film sounds very similar to theme from Annihilation? Or just me?From cinematography, narrative, and performance, Mercy clearly reflects a problem the contemporary film industry is facing: for some films, the small screen may already be the primary target from the early stages of shooting or even planning, rather than the traditional cinematic experience. Rather than a suspense film, this feels more like a compilation of online mystery short videos-just produced at a feature-film level.CinematographyAs a film that largely consists of two characters facing each other in an interrogation-style confrontation, this creative decision is understandable. At the same time, it also creates clear limitations in a theatrical setting.More than 80% of the shots are close-ups with short focal lengths, making the film almost frictionless to watch on a phone. One could even argue that watching it in vertical orientation would not significantly affect the experience. I can already predict that the film's core audience-attraction strategy will rely on short clips circulating on social media.This visual approach is obviously designed for phones, tablets, and televisions, which results in an awkward viewing experience in a cinema. Traditionally, this kind of disparity would be considered a weakness of the film. But given current industry trends, it is hard to say that this might not actually become a future path for certain films.Much like the long-standing debate of "what is cinema, and what is a theme park," the question of whether "films on phones" should be considered art or merely consumer products may become increasingly prominent in the coming years.Narrative As a whodunnit, the pacing of the film is extremely fast. On one hand, this comes from the pressure created by the built-in countdown. On the other, it once again reinforces how suited the film is to streaming platforms.Much like the popularity of short-form videos, fragmentation becomes one of the film's defining characteristics. A large number of side threads are presented in the form of an information network. While this structure is logically sound within the story, the viewing experience ends up resembling doom-scrolling: fragmented, high-speed information intake, and visual stimulation created by constant flashing images. However, the value carried by this information-and its contribution to the film's thematic core-is limited. The fear of the AI system expressed by the interrogator, the public, and the police is conveyed almost entirely through dialogue.The audience is given very little time to calmly analyze each suspect. In theory, this networked presentation could efficiently introduce the backstories of each character. Instead, what we receive is narration from the AI Maddox, paired with artificially aged, blurred photos and video materials. As a result, aside from the protagonists, nearly all characters become flat and largely forgettable.PerformanceChris and Rebecca Ferguson's performances are easily the most commendable aspects of the film. In particular, Rebecca's facial acting as an experimental AI stands out as one of the more carefully constructed portrayals of AI/robots/androids in recent years. Her almost-smiling expressions and subtle facial twitches present a mysterious, unstable, and cold-blooded AI in a new way.Rather than a completely expressionless machine, this AI feels like an imitator-one that mimics human expressions without truly understanding them. This uncanny-valley effect cannot be achieved through a rigid frozen smile or total emotional blankness alone.Overall As a whodunnit movie centered on AI-assisted criminal investigation, Mercy is undoubtedly timely fit in the modern aspect. However, neither its themes nor its methods of presentation are particularly innovative. The internal logic of the film also contains significant flaws: if criminals can exploit such powerful technology to clear their names, why is it designed as a 90-minute, high-pressure time-trial challenge? And why is this technology available only to suspects, rather than law enforcement? (This touches on spoilers, so I won't expand further.)From a filmmaking standpoint, the answer is straightforward: to create urgency and suspense.Yet the downside of such extreme pacing is that the film ends up resembling a highly polished collection of mystery short videos encountered on social media. That said, if the film is watched at home-lying on a couch with a phone in hand-many of these shortcomings are almost infinitely reduced.Some viewers may argue that flaws remain flaws regardless of context. But just as cinema itself has evolved alongside changes in audience understanding of audiovisual language-such as the shift toward faster storytelling that began decades ago-this may be a trend worth paying attention to.Personally, I don't like this direction either. But whether this format represents a possible future for certain types of films is, in my view, the more important question to consider.
Reviewed by SeadogNZ 7 / 10

Decent movie

I dont really understand why this movie is so low rated, it was very intense and had a good few plot twists (a lot of them were predictable though), as well as decent character development) It wasn't the best movie but for 2026 is ain't that bad. One thing about the movie that confused me though is who was the guy with the daughter in the videos? Didn't contribute to the story at all7/10.
Reviewed by FeastMode 6 / 10

Dollar store brand Minority Report

I went into this movie knowing nothing about it. By random coincidence, I rewatched Minority Report (8 stars) exactly a week ago. And while Mercy doesn't predict the future, there are so many similarities. A futuristic sci-fi movie with some yummy sci-fi candy, in which we question the moral authority of a supposedly infallible legal system, in which the biggest name enforcing that system is now under investigation by said system.Having said all that, I didn't mind this movie. It's definitely of significantly lower quality than Minority Report, but I was somewhat entertained. At first it looked like it was headed for a negative rating, but it ramps up nicely with continued escalation to a climax.I doubt it's something I rewatch, but I've seen much worse.(1 viewing, IMAX 1/22/2026)
Read more IMDb reviews

66 Comments

Be the first to leave a comment