Chris Pratt Battles a Lethal AI Judge in the Gritty New Sci-Fi Thriller “Mercy”
The film arrives as AI technology is increasingly adopted by real-world police forces for facial recognition and predictive “crime maps”.
RMN Stars Movies Desk
New Delhi | January 20, 2026
In a significant departure from his lighthearted roles in Guardians of the Galaxy, Chris Pratt stars as a homicide detective fighting for his life against a digital legal system in the upcoming film Mercy. Set in a 2029 Los Angeles where digital surveillance is ubiquitous, Pratt portrays Chris Raven, an alcoholic who wakes up from a drinking binge to find himself accused of murdering his wife.
Ninety Minutes to Survive an AI Trial
The film’s high-stakes premise centers on the “Mercy court,” a system Raven ironically helped develop to reduce crime rates. In this world, artificial intelligence has replaced human juries, and defendants are given just 90 minutes to prove their innocence before an advanced AI judge named Maddox, played by Rebecca Ferguson. The stakes are absolute: there is no chance for appeal, and 92% of trials result in instant execution.
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To capture the gravity of the role, Pratt pushed himself physically by requesting that director Timur Bekmambetov lock him into a real executioner’s chair for up to 50 minutes at a time. Pratt noted that being barefoot and trapped in the chair helped him convey authentic feelings of claustrophobia and isolation, especially since he was often suspended several feet in the air and could not see Ferguson while she performed her lines as the AI.
A “Serious” Departure and Real-World Echoes
Pratt described the project as a “long performance of a two or three-act stage play” that challenged him to move beyond his typical “goofy” screen persona. While the film features blockbuster-level special effects, much of the narrative is driven by surveillance footage that Raven must use to defend himself despite having no memory of the crime.
The film arrives as AI technology is increasingly adopted by real-world police forces for facial recognition and predictive “crime maps”. While these technologies are intended to identify criminals more efficiently, they have sparked significant concern among human rights groups regarding privacy and civil liberties.
Reflecting on these themes, Pratt stated that while he is “cautiously optimistic” about how technology might move humanity forward, he remains a firm believer in the right to be presumed innocent and the necessity of a jury of one’s peers.
Mercy is scheduled to be released in theaters by Amazon MGM Studios on January 23, 2026.
