Chris Pratt steps way outside his familiar action hero comfort zone in Mercyand according to the film’s director, the transformation is both striking and deeply moving.
At the sci-fi thriller’s New York premiere on January 20, director Timur Bekmambetov said audiences would see a side of Pratt they didn’t expect.
In MercyPratt plays Chris Raven, a homicide detective accused of murdering his wife and forced to prove his innocence within 90 minutes in a high-stakes trial overseen by an advanced AI judge.
If he fails, he risks immediate execution.
Bekmambetov described Pratt’s performance as raw and unusually exposed, emphasizing that the film goes far beyond standard action fare.
While viewers are used to seeing Pratt as tough, fast and physically dominant, this role required something completely different.
“This movie, it’s not just an action movie, because we expect Chris Pratt to be tough and jump and entertain us, but it’s [also] a very vulnerable and very broken man. And it was unique for him,” the director said.
“He played this for the first time.”
The director highlighted one particular moment as the emotional core of the film, the last conversation between Raven and his wife before her death.
“It’s the most dramatic, the most nervous, the most painful and the most emotional scene,” Bekmambetov said, noting that it was also his favorite film.
Although they previously worked together on the 2008 action thriller Researchsaid Bekmambetov Mercy reaffirmed Pratt’s range as an actor.
He admitted to being surprised by “how surprisingly dramatic he could be”, calling the performance proof of Pratt’s versatility.
Much of the tension in Mercy comes from confinement.
Raven spends most of the film tied to a chair during her trial, a stark contrast to Pratt’s usual physically demanding roles. Speaking at New York Comic Con last year, Pratt explained that the restriction was intentional.
“I asked them to lock me up [the chair]”, he said. “So I didn’t have to pretend I was attached.”
“I was handcuffed to that chair,” he added, explaining that the discomfort and claustrophobia helped him stay emotionally grounded during intense scenes.
Pratt also prepared by spending time with LAPD homicide detectives, an experience he said left a lasting impression.
“Man, these guys are heroes,” he said PEOPLEadding that hearing their stories gave him a greater respect for the trauma officers face daily.
With its emotional weight, psychological tension and stripped-down performance, Mercy introduces Pratt in a way audiences have never seen before. The film is now showing in theaters.
