Mercy

The execution is so confused and dull that we lose interest in the human sitting in that deadly chair much too soon, and by the time the kicker kicks in, we are supremely unbothered by how things actually went down. The story-telling is flat; so is everyone on screen.

Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson anchor this taut AI-driven thriller with solid performances in a fast-paced narrative.

Chris Pratt stars in this slice of AI hokum set in a near-future world where defendants face a virtual judge, jury and executioner, all rolled into one. The film follows Detective Chris Raven, an early adopter of Mercy – a fully autonomous courtroom and the ultimate crime deterrent, though the film itself fluffs its third act.

Mercy is thought-provoking no doubt, but scary too when you think of the fact that as to how much power will AI have exactly three years from now.

The blandness of the script and the just about passable performances make Mercy a wearying watch, particularly since the complexities of euthanasia are not adequately explored.

Sadly in "Mercy," in theaters Thursday, it's an ever-present reminder of just how much longer you must endure until you too are free of Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson and that chair. Unfortunately for Raven, he woke up with some gaps in his memory between angrily busting into his home to confront his wife about something and being arrested and bludgeoned at a bar later that day. Like Raven, we're largely stuck in the chair watching things play out on multiple screens, acutely aware of just how much time is left.