Stars Chris Pratt, Kali Reis, Kylie Rogers and Chris Sullivan attended the premiere of Timur Bekmambetov’s new action thriller “Mercy” at AMC Lincoln Square on Monday.
At a time where artificial intelligence is more pervasive than ever, the Amazon MGM Studios film examines a dystopian near-future where the justice system assigns it to be a judge, jury and executioner. Detective Chris Raven (Pratt) stands trial for the murder of his wife in front of the AI Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson). In a system he developed with the Los Angeles Police Department, he has 90 minutes to prove his innocence using evidence and data stored in the Mercy Cloud — or he’ll be executed.
“Mercy” is the latest of Bekmambetov’s films to tackle our relationship with technology, relying on surveillance footage, body cams, cell phone logs and social media archives to present the case’s facts. On the red carpet, Bekmambetov told The Knockturnal that his own stance surrounding AI drew him to tell this story.
“I’m scared, and I’m curious to see what will happen,” Bekmambetov said. “This movie, I think, will help us to be cautious and honest about the future, because nobody knows what will happen. This movie is a provocation, a way we can provoke people to be responsible.”
Editors Austin Keeling and Lam T. Nguyen were tasked with bringing the Mercy court and high-stress trial to life, cutting footage from over 20 different cameras to a real-time, on-screen timer that counts down to Chris’ execution if the trial doesn’t conclude.
“It was all about stock footage research,” Nguyen said. “We put [stock footage] in the edit for pre-visualization before production, and I helped the production team to replicate it.”
The film’s “visceral” and “dynamic” action scenes contribute to an already suspenseful film, with high-speed chases around Los Angeles using vehicles from trucks to flying motorcycles.
“This movie is great to see in a theater with a crowd,” Keeling said.
Underneath these action sequences and prolific technology, the core of “Mercy” is the dialogue between Chris and Judge Maddox. As more evidence is presented, Chris is forced to question his own project, where emotion and gut instinct are ignored and those facing trial are considered “guilty until proven innocent.” Here, humanity outshines technology, forcing audiences to question our reliance on AI and the control we give it over our lives.
“All of the courtroom stuff was one giant take,” Pratt told The Knockturnal on the red carpet. “We did 50 or 60 pages at a time, so that was technically challenging and really exciting.”
“Mercy” will release in theaters on Jan. 23.
(Feature image courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios)
