Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson’s new thriller, Mercy, just got an even worse Rotten Tomatoes score following initially negative reviews. The sci-fi thriller follows Pratt as Detective Chris Raven, an LAPD officer charged with the murder of his wife. He must prove his innocence to Ferguson’s Judge Maddox, an AI program, within 90 minutes, or face execution.
The movie comes out in theaters on January 23 and is projected to end Avatar: Fire and Ash‘s weekly Number 1 streak at the domestic box office during its opening weekend. However, Mercy has garnered negative Rotten Tomatoes reviews, with its initial critic score being 33%. But it turns out these unfavorable first impressions were only the beginning.
According to Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing, Mercy‘s critic score has dipped down to 17% based on 47 reviews. This marks the movie as having an overwhelmingly negative response from critics, with very few giving the movie positive marks. It also makes it the fourth worst-reviewed film of Pratt’s career, and the third-worst for Ferguson.
Negative reviews for Mercy cite the film’s farfetched, dystopian ideas as having fun presentation, but ultimately going against the values the movie is reportedly trying to establish. Many reviews cite the film as feeling pro-AI, despite the protagonist’s attempt at battling a system that’s working against him despite his purported innocence. It seemingly deflates any nuanced conversation about its themes too.
Even so, the film is on track to earn $10-13 million at the domestic box office during its opening weekend. With a reported budget of $60 million, it will have to perform exceedingly well worldwide for it to make a profit. Given its initial negative reviews, though, it’s unclear if this will greatly impact its theatrical performance.
The Pratt and Ferguson-led movie was directed by Timur Bekmambetov, whose notable work includes the 2016 remake of Ben-Hur. It was written by Marco van Belle and distributed by Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Releasing International. For now, the movie appears to still be on track for initial success, despite its negative reviews.
With its Rotten Tomatoes score dipping so much, it seems like Mercy has left a near-universal bad impression on critics. It’s unclear if audiences will feel the same way once the movie arrives in theaters, but its current slate of reviews aren’t a good sign. It seems Pratt and Ferguson’s star power will be an important pull to determining how monetarily successful the film is.
- Release Date
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January 23, 2026
- Runtime
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100 Minutes
- Director
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Timur Bekmambetov
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Rebecca Ferguson
Judge Maddox
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