Blu-ray Review: MERCY ROAD

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Dec 10, 2023 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

A man rushes back to his truck, his knuckles and face covered in blood, nervously speeding down a dark road. Tom (Luke Bracey) has just done something awful, but what and why remains a mystery. He desperately tries to call his 12-year-old daughter, Ruby (Martha Kate Morgan), but her phone goes straight to voicemail. He leaves a message, warning her not to go home. As he continues down the road, he receives all sorts of panicked calls—from his ex wife Terri (Alex Malone), a crisis negotiator, his boss, and more. They believe he has abducted his daughter, but he claims to not know where Ruby is. Tom tries to ignore the calls, but they just keep coming, and eventually an unknown caller, a mystery man calling himself “The Associate” gets through. The Associate (Toby Jones) claims that he has taken Ruby, ad tells Tom that he must pay for interrupting the mediation he performing. The Associate has taken Tom’s daughter, and now he must follow everything he says, and not involve the cops, or else she will die. Tom has just one hour to complete these orders, or else his daughter will die. Who is this Associate, and why is he doing this to Tom?

Mercy Road takes place almost entirely in Tom’s vehicle, following this panicked man as he tries to figure out what has happened to his daughter, and save her. Tom has had issues with alcohol in the past, which broke up his marriage, and relationship with his daughter. Even though he’s been sober for 8 years, something has recently set him off, and caused him to commit a violent crime. The details of Tom’s crime, why he did what he did, and his troubled past, are slowly revealed through the various conversations Tom has over his cell phone. The Associate appears to know a lot about Tom, can apparently see him in his car, and can tell whether or not he is following his instructions. Once The Associate gives Tom his orders and a 1-hour deadline to complete his request, the film switches into a real-time storytelling mode, with the clock constantly counting down. As Tom desperately looks for a way to complete the task in time, he finds that his actions have unforeseen consequences.

I was instantly captivated at the start of the movie, which puts the viewer in the dark—both literally and figuratively—as they are trying to figure out what is going on. The film makes use of this pulsing piano score to build and emphasize the tension as Tom speeds down this darkened road, desperately trying to find out what happened to his daughter. He’s both making and receiving calls, helping himself (and the audience) piece together the events. Meanwhile, he is being pursued by those who think he has abducted Ruby.

The film is very much a one-man showcase for star Luke Bracey, who delivers quite a raw and emotional performance. He’s pretty much the only person to appear on camera for the majority of the film. The cameras maintain a tight shot on his face, allowing the viewer to get a sense of the emotions Tom is experiencing.

Mercy Road starts off really tense and exciting, with a nice creepy setting of driving down the darkened road and a mystery to solve, but after a while, it becomes a bit repetitive, with Tom constantly yelling at his ex-wife or The Associate over the phone. In an attempt to introduce some other dangers and drama, there are a few moments where Tom has to deal with a giant spider that’s made its way into his truck. I think this would have worked a bit better as a short, especially once the story become more real-time.

I found the ending of the film quite confusing, and didn’t really understand what had actually happened, or what the payoff was that the filmmakers were going for. If there was ever a time I wished for a director commentary, this would be the one! Another minor annoyance was that throughout the film, Tom is constantly turning the wheel of his truck as he’s “driving”, despite the fact that he’s almost always driving down this single straight road. This took me out of the moment a few times, making it feel a bit fake.

Mercy Road is a very dark film, but the video presentation on the Blu-ray release is quite good, providing a clean picture and a solid level of detail (especially in Tom’s face) despite completely taking place at nighttime. The audio track provides clear dialogue throughout, and does a nice job of making it feel like Tom is talking and listening to everyone else through a cell phone. The pulsating score, which was mentioned earlier, also helps to build the tension and excitement.

Well Go’s Blu-ray release is a bit barebones, just including the film’s trailer and some previews for three other Well Go films as bonus material. I really wish there had been some sort of commentary or featurette to help explain what the writer/director were going for with the film’s ending. The Blu-ray comes packed in a locking HD keepcase. There is no digital copy, but our review copy did include a nice slipcover with a slightly embossed title.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:25:28)

1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
Audio: English DTS-HDMA 5.1, English Stereo, Spanish DTS-HDMA 5.1, Spanish Stereo
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish SDH

Extras:

Trailer (2:19)
Previews
- A Creature Was Stirring (2:05)
- 3 Days in Malay (1:39)
- Your Lucky Day (2:15)

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Film:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Worth a Look

Mercy Road starts off very exciting, putting the viewer on edge as they try to figure out what’s happening. The dark setting and pulsating score help to build tension and excitement. A lot of the film is put on the shoulders of star Luke Bracey, who pretty much gives a one-man-show, acting against voices on a telephone. He gives a really strong performance, but after a while, the film loses a bit of steam, and builds to a somewhat confusing and unclear resolution. While I think it’s worth a look for the tone and performance—especially for Luke Bracey fans—I found the ending to be a bit disappointing.