Chris Pratt’s Movie focused on AI mercy is causing a great divide between critics and the general public.
The futuristic sci-fi thriller, which hit theaters on Friday, January 23, follows captive detective Chris (Pratt) as he is briefed by an AI judge (Rebecca Ferguson) who is being tried for the murder of his wife (Annabelle Wallis) and has 90 minutes to prove his innocence or else be executed on the spot.
Pratt is strapped to a chair for most of the film, a departure from the actor’s typical stunts and action sequences. Pratt shared during an October 2025 Comic Con panel for the film that he asked to be confined in order to evoke a real sense of anxiety.
“I was handcuffed to this chair both feet and hands,” he told the crowd, per people. “And partly with the head at the end when I’m about to be, well, I don’t want to ruin the movie, but I’m attached to it.”
Chris Pratt’s new movie Mercy, a sci-fi action thriller starring Rebecca Ferguson, opens this weekend. Pratt has made a name for himself as a leading man in Hollywood after breaking out in the comedy Parks and Recreation and landing the lead role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Guardians of the Galaxy. But even (…)
He added: “There’s a certain level of claustrophobia that you naturally feel when you’re tied to something, and that was helpful, actually.”
Pratt also worked with the LAPD before filming, including the homicide division, which he called a “really awesome” experience.
“Man, these guys are heroes, and the problems they run into and the trauma they see on a day-to-day basis is really amazing,” he told People at the time.
Keep scrolling to see what audiences and critics are saying about Mercy:
What is “Mercy’s” rating on Rotten Tomatoes?
The sci-fi thriller currently sits at 22% from critics and 82% from audiences. (In order for a film to be “Certified Fresh,” it must receive a 55 percent or higher rating from critics.)
Kenneth Choi, Chris Pratt
Justin Lubin/© 2025 Amazon Content Services LLCWhat are critics saying about “Mercy”?
The critics have not been kind mercywith Frank Check of The Hollywood Reporter including a warning in its synopsis that it should be “avoided by anyone suffering from screen addiction. Which these days is pretty much everyone.”
Manohla Dargis of the New York Times also took issue with the film, calling it a story about a “man, like the unfortunate audience member, is haplessly stuck in a chair watching a lot of nonsense on the screen.” Peter Howell of the Toronto star, in the meantime, he says mercy is “lazily written, chaotically directed, and played with all the gusto of a convenience store security video.”
Dare Daniel’s Daniel Barnes he said that it might not be “a great idea to put a ubiquitous countdown clock in the corner of the screen when the movie is so tired”, saying it provides a “forceful reminder of all the time you’re wasting”.
There were a few critics who found it a good coating mercy Peter Bradshaw of the guardian called it “witty, watchable stuff” with “cheeky twists” while Sonia Rao of the Washington Post claims it’s both “ridiculous” and “a hoot and a half”.
What are fans saying about “Mercy”?
mercy has been much more favorable with the general public. one RT viewer called it a “different kind” of thriller, but still “very good”, while another praised the pace and its ability to “keep you engaged”.
A third RT user weighed in on Chris Pratt’s performance, saying the film shows he’s not just a “one trick pony.”
“I hear some people won’t see this because they think it’s a part 2 of minority report,” the user continued. “This is so much better than Minority Report, and while I guess it has a similar theme, this is like never seeing another sci-fi movie because you saw Star Wars once.”
Not everyone, however, was a fan. A one-star rating on Rotten Tomatoes called the plot “convoluted” and “sloppy”, while a second simply called it a “god-awful movie”.
mercy it’s in theaters now.