Mercy Review: A Smart Tech Thriller That Questions AI and Justice

No major spoilers here, I promise, so you’re safe to keep reading.

I got to see an early screening of Mercy before it’s released, in preparation for  my interview with Kali Reis.

What grabbed me right away was the storytelling style. A lot of the movie is told through files, camera footage, recordings, and you’re piecing together what happened as you go. They mix that with real-time pressure and action still happening in the moment, so it feels like you’re investigating it while the clock is ticking. 

You feel the tension as the clock ticks down.

The tone is kind of like a legal thriller, almost a John Grisham type of story, but dropped into a modern tech world. The perspective is interesting because it keeps you close to the accused and the weight of the system around them, instead of feeling like you’re just watching a courtroom story from the outside.

And yes, I totally got Minority Report flashbacks. That same tension of “the system already decided what’s true” is definitely in the air here. But Mercy takes it in its own direction by adding AI into the center of it, and that part feels super timely. AI is everywhere right now, and the movie leans into the ethical side of it, not just the cool tech side.

It gets you thinking about how much we’re trusting systems, how fast we’re handing over decisions, and what happens when people treat those decisions like they’re automatically right.

One thing that stuck with me is the way the movie handles AI toward the end.

It’s a little bit of movie magic where AI starts acting more human. And it left me with a big question: will that actually happen with AI, or is that just us projecting what we want to see?

Either way, it’s the kind of thing that makes you pause for a second about how fast we’re trying to plug AI into everything.

Also, Kali Reis is fantastic in this. She plays a partner role, but she brings real presence, and when the action ramps up she feels like the one carrying it.

There’s a moment where you can see those heavyweight boxing skills come through, and it’s awesome. She got her licks in for sure!

She ends up feeling like the action hero of the movie while the main character is stuck in the trial side of the story.  She carries the action scenes with shoot outs, fights, and even flying patrol vehicle.

If you like thrillers that mix legal tension, tech, and action, and you want a movie that gives you something to talk about after, Mercy is worth checking out.