The arrival of A.I. into many aspects of everyday life has become a controversial topic. Everything from education to entertainment has been affected by emerging technology with many wondering if it will eventually remove many humans from the creative and decision-making process.
In the new film “Mercy”, audiences are introduced to a near-future where crime has risen and public security is waning. As a result, a system known as the “Mercy Court” is brought into being where those accused of a capital crime are restrained in a chair and given 90-minutes with an A.I. Judge to mount a defense. Failure to do so results in an immediate execution on the spot.
Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) is a proponent of the system which in two years has tried 18 cases and found all 18 defendants guilty. The threat of swift legal action has lowered crime and appears to be an effective system.
That is until Chris wakes up in the chair and is told that he is accused of killing his wife. Chris has no memory of doing the crime as he has relapsed into his alcoholic behavior which has put an incredible strain on his marriage and left him cut off from his family.
Citizens are legally required to link their devices with the system and as a result, Chris and the court have access to everything from camera footage, cell phone records, police and security cameras, bank and business files, and more.
In a race against time, Chris and A.I. Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson), look through the evidence as Chris attempts to prove his innocence in a system that based on gathered evidence already has him as the likely suspect.
The movie does fall back onto some familiar Hollywood tropes towards the end, but I found the movie to be entertaining and engaging despite requiring some jumps in logic.
The concept of law being determined by a cold computer system where data versus intuition and emotional hunches to pursue paths that would not at first make sense was compelling.
The two leads do a good job of keeping your attention and if you can overlook some of the flaws with the film you would likely find it to be an interesting enough diversion as the real-time format kept the film moving along and kept my attention throughout.
3 stars out of 5
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