In 'Mercy,' an AI justice system determines a detective's fate

By Bob Mondello

Published January 23, 2026 at 1:48 PM PST

In the thriller Mercy, a detective played by Chris Pratt finds himself accused of murder in a justice system entirely run by artificial intelligence. He has 90 minutes to prove his innocence.

Bob Mondello

Bob Mondello, who jokes that he was a jinx at the beginning of his critical career — hired to write for every small paper that ever folded in Washington, just as it was about to collapse — saw that jinx broken in 1984 when he came to NPR.

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