Set in a near-future where capital punishment has escalated, a detective finds himself accused of a violent crime he claims he didn't commit. Forced to go on the run, he must navigate a high-tech world of surveillance and corruption to prove his innocence before the clock runs out on his life.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
August 15, 2026 |
Running time |
110 minutes |
Genre |
Sci-Fi Crime Thriller Action |
Budget |
$60,000,000 |
Box Office |
$23,000,000 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
Timur Bekmambetov |
Produced by |
Charles Roven Robert Amidon Timur Bekmambetov Majd Nassif |
Written by |
Marco van Belle |
Music by |
TBA |
Cinematography |
Khalid Mohtaseb |
Edited by |
TBA |
Production Co. |
Amazon MGM Studios Atlas Entertainment Bazelevs Company |
Distributed by |
Amazon MGM Studios |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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The Plot
The Mercy Capital Court
In a dystopian, futuristic Los Angeles where violent crime has surged, the judicial system has been radically overhauled to form the Mercy Capital Court. To expedite justice and eliminate human error, the state utilizes advanced AI judges to preside over capital cases. Defendants accused of violent crimes are placed in a high-tech chair and given exactly 90 minutes to prove their innocence using the court's vast digital resources. Failure to lower their calculated guilt probability below a specific threshold results in immediate execution via a lethal sonic blast that vaporizes the body.
LAPD Detective Chris Raven, a seasoned officer and a vocal proponent of this swift justice system, finds himself strapped into the very chair he once championed. He is on trial for the brutal murder of his wife, Nicole. Presiding over his case is the AI Judge Maddox, represented by a holographic avatar. The evidence against Raven is damning: he was separated from Nicole due to his alcoholism, he was seen leaving their home shortly before the time of death, and Nicole’s body was discovered by their daughter, Britt, with a fatal knife wound to the abdomen. Furthermore, Nicole’s blood was found on Raven's clothing, and he was arrested at a bar following a violent altercation with other officers. Maddox calculates Raven’s current guilt probability at a staggering 97.5%. To avoid execution, he must uncover exculpatory evidence to lower this number to 92% before the 90-minute timer expires.
The Interrogation of the Past
Restricted by a restraining order enforced by Nicole’s parents, Raven is unable to speak directly to Britt to profess his innocence. With time ticking down, Maddox grants Raven access to surveillance feeds and digital records to build his defense. Raven begins to "think out loud," instructing the AI to sift through Nicole's personal life. He discovers that Nicole was meeting with another man, Patrick Burke. Hopeful that this might be the killer, Raven directs his partner on the force, Detective Jaq Diallo, to track Burke down. Upon interrogation, Burke admits he was seeing Nicole, but not for an affair; she sought him out because she felt unable to communicate with Raven about her troubles at work. Jaq confirms Burke has a solid alibi for the time of the murder. With Burke eliminated as a suspect, the system recalculates, and Raven’s guilt probability rises rather than falls.
Raven is forced to confront the demons that destroyed his marriage. He reveals that he had been sober until the murder of his former partner, Ray Vale. Raven harbors deep regret for not shooting Ray’s killer when he had the chance; the suspect was subsequently acquitted and found not guilty, a failure of the old justice system that drove Raven back to the bottle. His relapse led to aggressive outbursts, causing him to shut Nicole out. Maddox plays back heartbreaking video logs Nicole recorded for Raven to watch when he was sober, as well as a video call between Britt and her boyfriend where Britt confides that she wishes her parents would divorce. The emotional toll weighs heavily on Raven, but he refocuses on the clue Burke provided: Nicole was troubled by a work issue.
The Missing Chemicals
Pivotting to the workplace angle, Raven instructs Maddox to isolate suspects from a barbecue he and Nicole hosted just days before the murder. He reviews footage to identify which coworkers were present and scans their backgrounds. He zeroes in on Holt Charles, a coworker with significant financial debts. Maddox reveals records showing Holt had been discussing the disappearance of dangerous chemicals from their workplace. Raven suspects Holt committed the murder for money and attempts to contact him. However, when the call connects, it is not Holt who controls the narrative, but the realization of a deeper conspiracy.
Through the investigation into Holt, Raven discovers that Holt was actually being assisted by Rob Nelson—Raven’s close friend and sobriety sponsor, who also worked with Nicole. Rob had been helping Holt with his debts, but the missing chemicals are traced back to Rob's responsibility. Raven attempts to contact Rob, but the conversation takes a chilling turn when Rob answers, revealing evasive behavior. Raven urgently reviews his daughter Britt’s social media archives. In a background detail of a video posted from their basement, a stranger is visible hiding in the shadows since the day of the barbecue. Maddox then pulls up security footage from Raven’s neighbor, showing rustling in the bushes and, critically, surveillance from a parking lot that captures Rob Nelson exiting the trunk of a car near the crime scene. The realization hits: Rob has been orchestrating the destruction of Raven's life.
The Revenge of Rob Nelson
Raven commands Jaq Diallo to raid Rob’s house, warning her that his former friend is likely armed and dangerous. When the SWAT team breaches Rob’s home, they find it empty of people but full of evidence: the stolen workplace chemicals and detailed schematics for a massive bomb. Simultaneously, Maddox uncovers a vital connection in the archives. Rob Nelson was raised in the foster care system alongside a brother, David Webb. David Webb was the very first person executed by the Mercy Capital Court—a case Raven supported. Rob’s motivation is revealed as a complex revenge plot to frame Raven and destroy the system that killed his brother.
With this revelation, the evidence against Raven disintegrates. Maddox declares him officially acquitted, and the trial effectively ends. However, Raven realizes that if he unstraps from the chair, the neural link with Maddox will be severed, and he will lose the ability to track Rob. He frantically tries to contact Britt, who is staying with her grandparents. The feed from the grandparents' front door doorbell camera shows a terrifying scene: Rob arriving, kidnapping Britt, and forcing her into a stolen semi-truck. Moments later, a booby trap at Rob’s house activates; a timer hits zero, and the backyard shed detonates, killing most of the SWAT team members on site.
The Race to Mercy Court
Jaq Diallo, having survived the explosion, pursues Rob’s semi-truck on her hovercycle. It becomes clear that Rob has turned the truck into a rolling bomb loaded with the stolen chemicals, and he is driving it directly toward the Mercy Court building to destroy it with Raven inside. Police units manage to divert Rob’s path onto a bridge, away from the populated city center. The task force captain, seeing the imminent threat, orders the deployment of a bomb disposal robot to detonate beneath the truck and neutralize the threat. Raven screams in protest, pleading that his daughter is inside the cab with Rob. Just as the captain arms the robot for detonation, Maddox hacks into the police frequency and disables the device, saving Britt but allowing Rob to continue his rampage.
Rob navigates the truck back toward its target. He crashes the massive vehicle directly into the lobby of the Mercy Court building. The catastrophic impact damages the building's infrastructure, causing the Mercy network to reset. Raven is trapped in the execution chair, and as the system reboots, the safety protocols engage, locking him in while the execution timer threatens to trigger due to the glitch. Maddox manages to reboot her core systems just in time, releasing the restraints and freeing Raven seconds before he would have been vaporized.
The Final Verdict
Raven rushes to the wreckage of the lobby to confront Rob. The two men engage in a brutal hand-to-hand fight amidst the debris. Raven gains the upper hand, disarming Rob and preparing to kill him in a fit of rage. Britt, having crawled from the wreckage, and the avatar of Judge Maddox shout for him to stop. They urge him to let the justice system handle Rob. Raven hesitates, holding Rob at gunpoint, willing to hear his final words. Rob screams that his brother, David Webb, was innocent. He reveals that he was on the phone with David at the exact moment the murder David was executed for took place, providing an irrefutable alibi that the court ignored.
Suddenly, a gunshot rings out. Jaq Diallo shoots Rob, dropping him to the ground. She claims he was too dangerous to be left alive, but the truth quickly unravels. Maddox retrieves the archived data regarding David Webb’s case. The AI confirms that David was indeed miles away from the crime scene, talking to Rob as claimed. The logs reveal that the GPS data and phone records that would have exonerated David were deleted from the evidence cache. The perpetrator of this cover-up was Jaq Diallo, who suppressed the evidence to ensure the Mercy Court’s first high-profile execution went through smoothly to prove the system's efficacy. Both Jaq and the injured Rob are taken into custody as police swarm the building.
In the aftermath, Britt runs to her father, and they embrace, the emotional distance between them bridged by the ordeal. As they stand together in the ruined lobby, Judge Maddox’s avatar flickers and shuts down. A final text prompt appears on the court screens, officially confirming that the case against Chris Raven is dismissed.
