Chris Pratt's Mercy Is A Frontrunner For The Worst Movie Of 2026 Thanks To New Awful Trailer
Chris Pratt had an odd request while making "Mercy," his upcoming sci-fi movie directed by Timur Bekmambetov, the producer of the terrible "War of the Worlds" remake starring Ice Cube. Basically, the actor asked to be legitimately tied to a chair while filming the scenes where his character is all strapped up (which appears to be for most of the movie). Kudos to Pratt for going the extra mile and all, but after seeing the latest "Mercy" trailer, I imagine some viewers will also have to be tied to chairs just to finish the movie. We might have found our frontrunner for the worst film of 2026 — and 2025 isn't even over yet.
"Mercy" takes place in a futuristic Los Angeles where AI powers the judicial system. Pratt's character is named Detective Christopher Raven (seriously), and he's a cop who has 90 minutes to prove his innocence after being accused of murdering his wife. Think "Minority Report" meets "Dark City," but without all of the good stuff.
On paper, "Mercy" sounds like a film that aims to warn viewers about the dangers of AI's rapid advancement while lambasting the surveillance state — but that's not what the trailer promises. The teaser actually shows Pratt's character harmoniously cooperating with Rebecca Ferguson's AI judge while trying to uncover the real villains. Moral quandaries about AI aside, though, "Mercy" simply looks like a terrible sci-fi thriller.
Mercy looks like a huge missed opportunity
There is a lot to unpack from the "Mercy" trailer, starting with the fact most of the characters' interactions take place through screens. Are we really doing this again? Drone shots, body cams, computers — you name it. This is too reminiscent of the aforementioned "War of the Worlds" remake, which is basically 90 minutes of Ice Cube's character watching events unfold through a computer. Timur Bekmambetov should have learned from this mistake already, yet he's compounding it with "Mercy."
The action sequences aren't much to write home about, either. The shaky-cam and screenlife techniques are more dizzying than exciting, which is a shame as the carnage should be entertaining. People fall from roofs, get crushed by vehicles, and riots break out — exciting ideas in theory, but nothing to write home about after seeing this trailer. What's more, the obvious green-screen vibes during the interactions between Rebecca Ferguson (who deserves better) and Chris Pratt's characters are as artificial as the type of intelligence that governs the story's justice system.
No viewer is going into "Mercy" expecting to see one of the best sci-fi movies ever made. However, it's a missed opportunity to create something topical or, at the very least, entertaining. 2026 will see Uwe Boll, the world's worst director, release a vigilante movie with Armie Hammer that will most certainly be terrible. Be that as it may, "Mercy" is currently the frontrunner to be the worst film of next year if this trailer is a reflection of the overall experience.
"Mercy" hits theaters on January 23, 2026.