Chris Pratt Unleashes Mercy: The Sci-Fi Thrill Ride You Can Stream Now

Well, that was fast. Chris Pratt's new AI thriller 'Mercy' has already jumped to digital less than a month after it hit theaters. If you missed it on the big screen, you can now rent or buy it at home. Yes, already.

The setup

Near-future, high-stakes, limited time: Pratt plays a detective accused of murdering his wife. He gets 90 minutes to clear his name in front of an advanced AI judge he once helped champion. The judge has a name — Maddox — and the judge is played by Rebecca Ferguson. Most of the movie plays out in a 'screenlife' style — think feeds, calls, and interfaces — with Pratt literally strapped to a chair while this machine dissects his past in real time. If you like locked-room pressure cookers, this is that, plus code.

• Director: Timur Bekmambetov
• Cast: Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, Kali Reis, Annabelle Wallis, Chris Sullivan, Kylie Rogers, Kenneth Choi, Rafi Gavron, Jeff Pierre
• Role notes: Ferguson is Judge Maddox, the AI on the other side of Pratt's fate

How to watch it

'Mercy' hit theaters 26 days ago and is now out on digital. Major platforms, including Amazon, have it available to rent or purchase.

The reception (and why people are split)

Critics were not kind. The film sits around 24% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and the complaints zero in on the sealed-off presentation and the one-man-in-a-chair format. The official critics consensus basically calls it a claustrophobic tech thriller that never quite breathes:

"An airless presentation of a clunky techno-thriller premise... tedious enough to make you cry uncle."

Audiences, meanwhile, are having a much better time. The audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is hovering around 83%, with reactions framing it as a sharp, high-concept nail-biter. One fan capsule put it like this:

"Pratt-tastic... a high-concept whodunit for anyone who enjoys an edge-of-your-seat, popcorn-fueled experience."

The numbers so far

The theatrical run struggled: about $53 million worldwide against a reported $60 million budget. Not a great look on paper, which probably explains the quick pivot to digital.

So, is it worth your couch time?

If the idea of MCU alum Chris Pratt going head-to-head with Rebecca Ferguson's AI in a 90-minute pressure session sounds like your kind of Friday night, this one fits the bill. Bekmambetov has been pushing the screenlife format for years, and this is him going all-in with big-name leads. The divide between critics and audiences is real, and honestly, that usually means the home release finds its crowd. Would not be surprised if this becomes a sleeper streaming hit — and if that happens, expect sequel chatter to start quickly.