As the figurehead of the "screen life" filmmaking movement of thrillers and horror movies that play out on laptop screens (Unfriended, Searching, Missing et al), director Timur Bekmambetov has shown great interest in how tech can be directly integrated in the thriller genre. He continues this with tech thriller Mercy, which posits a near future where accused criminals are given 90 minutes to prove their innocence through the use of technology. Chris Pratt plays a detective accused of murdering his wife, a crime he denies, and must find her real killer before he's sentenced by an AI judge (Rebecca Ferguson).
Written by Marco van Belle, the film also stars Kali Reis, Annabelle Wallis, Chris Sullivan and Kylie Rogers.
Mercy is in UK/ROI cinemas from January 23rd, 2026.
Check out the trailer and poster below.
The official synopsis reads:
In the near future, a detective (Chris Pratt) stands on trial accused of murdering his wife. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence to the advanced A.I. Judge (Rebecca Ferguson) he once championed, before it determines his fate.
