Set in a near future where human courts have been replaced by an AI-run justice system, Mercy unfolds almost entirely within a high-stakes trial. Rebecca Ferguson plays AI Judge Maddox
Still from Mercy
In an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, Mercy asks a provocative question: What happens when technology becomes judge, jury, and executioner? For Rebecca Ferguson, who plays an AI judge in the upcoming sci-fi thriller, the film feels unsettlingly close to reality.
About Mercy
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov, Mercy experiments not just with ideas but with form. Much of the film’s evidence is presented through phone footage, body cams, drone cameras, and surveillance feeds, reflecting a world where almost every moment is recorded and stored. The result is a thriller that feels deeply embedded in the digital reality audiences already inhabit.
Set in a near future where human courts have been replaced by an AI-run justice system, Mercy unfolds almost entirely within a high-stakes trial. Evidence is pulled not from witnesses or lawyers, but from a vast digital archive the film calls the “LA Municipal Cloud” — a system that stores everything from surveillance footage to personal device recordings.
At the centre of that world stands Ferguson’s Judge Maddox, calm, composed, and eerily authoritative.
Rebecca Ferguson discusses her role
“Playing Judge Maddox, an AI who is on the cusp of human understanding, so near to consciousness and yet light years away from being human, brings up many interesting questions,” Ferguson says. “We expect accuracy from technology, but more and more we need to question what the online world is telling us.”
For Ferguson, the role wasn’t about playing a machine, but exploring the illusion of objectivity that technology often promises. Her AI judge is designed to be neutral, data-driven, and emotionless, yet the film slowly challenges the idea that such purity can truly exist.
“Artificial Intelligence is a fantastic tool, but it should always be just that, a tool to aid humans, not an alternative to humans,” Ferguson says. “This film highlights some of the ways relying on AI could go very wrong.”
As the AI begins to exhibit traces of something resembling empathy, the film pushes viewers to confront uncomfortable questions about trust, truth, and control in the age of algorithms. “We’re handing over so much power to systems we don’t fully understand,” Ferguson notes. “And that’s where the danger lies.”
Sony Pictures Entertainment and Amazon MGM Studios release Mercy on 23rd January, 2026, in English and Hindi
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