After an early career in Russia, Timur Bekmambetov came to Hollywood with a bang via the 2008 hit Wanted. Despite that success, the filmmaker continued to mainly work in Russia, with 2026’s Mercy his first US effort since 2016’s Ben-Hur.

In Los Angeles circa the near future, a program called the “Mercy Capital Court” uses AI to quickly and “impartially” determine guilt related to crimes. LAPD Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) supports this endeavor… until it implicates him.

Someone murders Raven’s wife Nicole (Annabelle Wallis) and “Mercy” accuses him of the act. Chris desperately attempts to prove his innocence despite the damning evidence AI Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson) presents against him.

On the surface, it surprises me that Bekmambetov only two US-produced flicks between 2008 and 2026. In addition to Ben-Hur, he also directed 2012’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Neither of those did big business, though they fared better than Mercy. Even with a low-for-2026 budget of $60 million, it lost a decent chunk of money.

Of course, financial woes don’t mean creative failure, so I went into Mercy with the hopes it’d offer a creative thriller. Alas, the end product became an overwrought mess.

Much of the story sticks Chris in a chair in one location. Instead, the “action” comes from all the external video footage involved with his trial.

This makes Mercy feel a lot like a more hyperactive version of 2018’s Searching. That film conveyed a mystery almost entirely via laptop or smartphone screens.

For the most part, Mercy follows this path, albeit with a more futuristic twist. In better hands, perhaps this theme could work.

Unfortunately, Bekmambetov remains a ridiculously hyperactive director. His obsession with annoying visual techniques ruined Wanted and his refusal to let the story breathe damages Mercy as well.

Granted, some of this comes from the premise, as Chris’s trial provides a literal ticking clock. He gets a very limited time span in which to establish his innocence so that obviously conveys urgency.

However, Bekmambetov can’t leave well enough alone. Rather than allow the tension to evolve naturally, he tosses every cheap visual and auditory technique he can find at the viewer to create a contrived sense of drama.

In particular, the movie’s score turns into a persistent annoyance. It pounds and pulses non-stop in an attempt to simulate tension and thrills.

Instead, the music simply creates literal headaches. The overwhelming score feels more like an indication the filmmakers lack confidence than a necessary component of the process.

I get why Bekmambetov opted for such an oppressive score, though, as the story otherwise gets told in a stilted manner. Rather than become a compelling detective tale, Mercy usually feels like Exposition: The Movie.

It doesn’t help that Mercy bears a more than passing resemblance to 2002’s Minority Report. Though we get some differences, the similarities seem abundant and problematic.

Even if I ignore the manner in which Mercy rips off that Spielberg hit, the movie just doesn’t work. 100 minutes of frantic antics in search of excitement and tension, the movie flops.

Mercy appears in an aspect ratio of 2.20:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though a native 4K product, the film opted for so many “found footage” formats that this became an erratic image.

Though a generally good one, as the visuals usually looked fine. Occasional shots went with a lower-res vibe but much of the flick brought appealing delineation.

The movie lacked jaggies or moiré effects, and I noticed no edge haloes. Source flaws failed to mar the proceedings.

Because the tale spent so much time in the greenish court setting, that color dominated. The “outside footage” brought other hues, though, and these seemed more than adequate.

Blacks felt reasonably deep, while low-light shots brought sufficient clarity. Despite the challenges of the visual choices, the end product looked fine.

Note that roughly 60 percent of Mercy used 1.90:1 IMAX framing. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray didn’t choose to go with alternating aspect ratios, so it stayed 2.20:1 the whole way.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the flick’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack also came with restrictions related to its structure. However, it opened up fairly well at times.

Music used the channels in the most active manner, as the score popped up around the room in a lively way. Some directional dialogue occurred, and effects also broadened at times.

That said, the focus on one location meant these elements only occasionally created real involvement. Still, the track brought enough of this material to add occasional spice to the proceedings.

Audio quality worked fine, with music that seemed vivid and full. Effects became accurate and dynamic.

Dialogue remained natural and concise. Though the soundscape lacked the scope for a high grade, it still worked well enough for the production at hand.

The disc includes zero extras.

Although Mercy attempts a creative way to tell a detective story, it doesn’t hit the mark. Instead, the end product feels like a bunch of gimmicks in search of tension and excitement. The Blu-ray comes with generally positive picture and audio but it lacks supplements. This winds up as fairly dull thriller.