Mercy: An Interview with Chris Pratt

Connecting with the Project and Cast

I read the script and immediately thought it was fantastic. It’s a truly original story, unlike anything I’ve ever read before—which is saying a lot because I read a ton—and it really hit home for me. I worked with Timur Bekmambetov years ago on Wanted, and I’d been looking for the right opportunity to get back in the room and work with him again.

I fell in love with the story and the screenplay. Then Chuck Roven came on board—he’s an incredible, Oscar-winning producer—and his involvement really amped up the excitement for me. I signed on very early, which gave me the chance to help pull the whole thing together. I’d describe it as a "multi-genre" film.

A Look into the Future: "Screen Life"

It’s a chamber drama, a thriller, and an action movie, all told through the "Screen Life" style—a genre Timur has basically perfected (he produced Searching, Missing, and Unfriended). With this movie, we’re taking that genre to the next level. We’re using all kinds of different cameras, angles, and real-world recordings to piece the narrative together. It’s a really cool, immersive way to tell a story.

The Plot: A Race Against Time

My character is Chris Raven, an LAPD homicide detective in the near future. Raven finds himself on trial for his life in a special court that uses an AI Judge acting as jury and executioner.

You have exactly 90 minutes to prove your innocence. If you can’t prove it beyond a reasonable doubt by the time the clock runs out, you’re executed on the spot. The movie plays out in real-time over those 90 minutes. All the evidence presented comes from the "L.A. Municipal Cloud"—surveillance footage, FaceTime calls, emails, texts, voicemails, and even random cell phone videos from people on the street. Anything that lives in the cloud is fair game as evidence.

We shot a lot of it on iPhones, GoPros, Ring doorbells, police body cams, and drones. Judge Maddox is a digital apparition; she’s on a screen in front of me, but she’s an omnipresent quantum computer that can show me dozens of different videos all at once.

Character and Inner Conflict

I play Detective Chris Raven, a veteran who spent 20 years climbing the ranks of the LAPD until he became the guy who sends people to the "Mercy Room." He’s actually responsible for eight people going into that room and being executed before he ends up in the chair himself.

Talk about irony: he wakes up to find out he’s accused of murdering his wife. Now, Chris has a secret—he’s a functioning alcoholic. He’s in a program, but he’s been drinking on the sly. When he wakes up, he’s confused, he has a total blackout, and from a detective’s perspective, it really looks like he committed the crime. He has just 90 minutes to use his detective skills and Judge Maddox’s processing power to clear his name.

The World of "Mercy" and the Role of AI

The setting is Los Angeles in 2029 or 2030, and it’s a dark place. AI has grown exponentially, and so have violent crime and drug abuse. The human justice system failed, so AI took over, relying strictly on binary values and facts, stripping away human emotion and legal corruption.

However, the character of Judge Maddox (played by Rebecca Ferguson) has an incredible arc. She starts as a cold, calculated program, but throughout the film, you realize she’s becoming a sentient being trying to hide her own "humanity." She develops empathy, which acts like a virus in her code. She starts learning to trust human intuition over raw data.

A Necessary Reflection

The film taps into the global conversation about AI: how much power should we actually give it? We can’t let technological efficiency replace human dignity and emotion.

Timur is a visual genius, a master of "creative chaos." He’s created an incredible spectacle that really belongs on the big screen, where you can fully immerse yourself in the perspective of a quantum computer.

It’s a gripping, dark, fast-paced mystery. For me, it was a challenge to play someone so tortured—moving from an everyday guy to someone you believe is capable of real darkness.

"My name is Chris Pratt. I play Chris Raven in Mercy. On trial for the murder of his wife, he has 90 minutes to save himself before a computer sentences him to death. Good luck, Chris Raven: your trial starts now."