
New sci-fi/crime/thriller Mercy has Chris Pratt playing a detective whose fate is to be determined by the AI (Rebecca Ferguson) he championed, after he’s accused of murdering his wife.
Annabelle Wallis, Kenneth Choi and Noah Fearnley are among the key cast, while Timur Bekmambetov directs.
I want this to be great, of course. But I don’t yet have the feeling it will be.
Still, I remain curious and will no doubt be very happy and pleasantly surprised if the quality of this film exceeds that of Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report (2002), which I need to rewatch forthwith.
I suspect that what may be most impressive is what the film shows us about the level to which the American public is under surveillance. Additionally, wouldn’t it be quite the twist if Pratt’s character is actually guilty?
What are your thoughts, dear reader?
Kylie Rogers, Chris Sullivan, Kali Reis, Rafi Gavron, Jeff Pierre, Philicia Saunders, Renata Ribeiro and Jamie McBride also star.
Mercy Release Dates: January 23rd, 2026 (US & UK)…
Happy Film Loving,
G
The surveillance part reminds me of Enemy of the State. Like you, I’ll allow room for hope. 🙂
Wise plan. I remember Enemy of the State rather fondly. I loved that hit for Will Smith.
Can you see Harrison Ford in Pratt’s facial expression here? Perhaps channeling the character, Dr. Richard Kimble from The Fugitive? Minority Report is so entertaining!🔮💽🥽
I see it. I see Harrison, such a skilled actor. 🙌
I think January is an interesting time for movies, B-movies that is. I have always felt the first month of the New Year always features some over-the-top sci-fi flick that didn’t quite hit the mark, and the studio is just hoping some people will fall into the theatre to see it when the hit movie they originally came to see is sold out. I want this to be great too, G. But alas, I’m not very hopeful. I caught the tail end of Minority Report the other night on one of the cable channels. I admire that film being ahead of its time.
Aww The 3rd act of Minority Report is the weakest IMO! At least the most tedious. Kinda has a Scooby-Doo reveal, “…And I woulda gotten away with it too if not for the kids and that DOG! Shucks!” Except it’s super confusing… The setup is where the movie shines, in the beginning.
No argument on the third act thoughts lol. I was speaking about the concept and premise, the world-building in the film. We agree.
It was a special film for its time, absolutely.
I’ll have to see it again to remind myself. I remember enjoying Colin Farrell in it.
Good point about January-release movies. It would be great if a surprise huge hit came out of scheduling at that time. I look forward to re-watching Minority Report again soon.
Streaming, yes.
Makes sense. I’m curious about how many people will choose to see it on an IMAX screen.
Everything about AI freaks me out, this included!
I can’t say I blame you, Tiffany. AI is a lot.
All signs point to this being bad, but I’m not sure yet. I think I’ll stick to Minority Report.
Certainly most signs, if not all. Fingers crossed it’s some kind of watchable. 🤞🤞
This actually reminds me 2025 War of The Worlds with Ice Cube that you reviewed recently. And we know how well that went🙃
I thought the same thing
I see it now, after rewatching the Ice Cube trailer, which I must have blocked out.
‘Oh, no!’ That’s my reaction after rewatching the War of the Worlds (2025) trailer just now. I vaguely remember seeing the first few seconds of the trailer months before and deciding ‘absolutely not.’ How did the cast say yes to that?
If it was an experiment to see if a blockbuster movie can be made from an actor’s living room with a laptop, it failed Lol
Got it. 🤓 I will need especially gifted actors, a great script and director for any chance of success.
My first association was also Minority Report but in the current AI trend. To me it looks promising based on the two main actors.
I wonder how long will this trend last. It is very convenient bad guy since there’s no chance to offend any country, religion or race.
I like your optimistic take, and hope you’re proven right. As for the AI trend, I suspect 10 more ‘AI as villain’ scripts just got finalised in the last 30 minutes. 😁 If the movies keep doing badly, then maybe the trend will end even sooner.
…in this case it certainly looks like AI was manipulated by some criminal mastermind to turn it against its creator so they would turn it off and criminals can go back to their business.
That sounds 100 per cent accurate. 🤓 Hopefully, someone super-close to him isn’t involved. I’ll say no more! 😁