Film's story of dystopian future shows little mercy

Imagine waking up strapped to a chair, face to face with a judge who informs you that you've been accused of murder — and unless you can prove your innocence within 90 minutes, you will be executed immediately.

This is the chilling premise of Mercy, a new Hollywood film directed by Timur Bekmambetov and starring Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson, which debuted in theaters across the Chinese mainland on Jan 23.

Set in 2029, the story revolves around a justice system controlled by artificial intelligence. Pratt stars as Chris Raven, a Los Angeles police detective who awakens to this dystopian reality after being accused of murdering his wife. With just 90 minutes to clear his name, he must convince the AI-run system of his innocence — or face execution.

Bekmambetov describes the film as "a very intense, thrilling mystery" that represents a new approach to screenlife, a form of visual storytelling, while tackling a highly entertaining yet serious and impactful subject. He added that he was drawn to the story not only as a screenlife project but also as a traditional film that explores how people behave and interact with technology.

To make the man-versus-machine showdown more immersive, the film was shot entirely under the Filmed for IMAX program, and its 62-minute key sequence is presented in IMAX's special aspect ratio.