Mercy (IV) (2016) User Reviews

It's not rocket science

[joelbooska · 5/10 · 25 November 2016]

This is middle of the road for me. I did not think it was an exceptional thriller by any means but the story made sense in the end. ***SPOILERS****

Basically, the sons are from 2 different dads. The current dad is a hard butted shady dad, the previous dad was a wife beating jerk. 4 sons, 2 sons per whack job dad from the current timeline/past abusiveness hubby.

The mother is suffering so the church spokesman/doctor comes to drop off a mysterious kit to "aid", "painlessly kill", the mother? We do not know..yet.

Meanwhile, the brothers argue and all of a sudden, a home invasion. After about 1/4 of the movie finishes, the events are all recounted with a sloppy explanation as to what "really" went down.

What went down was...the mother's old church group exacted vengeance in the form of baiting the brothers to give the mother the "kit"..what is the kit? Still don't know...yet. This is where the writing becomes super sloppy. Why all the hoo ha? Why not just take a bro hostage if instead of killing an entire family? Or, do the kit on the mother yourselves...or...wait for the family to leave, or...this is a big one, make your move BEFORE the family gets together. Frustrating story.

We see a quick scene of conspiring via a cell phone with the church doctor. "Meet me at sundown". Hmm...that's a little hammy.

Let me finish this up.

The church completely guts the household just so one last remaining brother gives the mother the "kit" remedy?

Yes, it is a remedy. It seems this entire time, the reluctance to give the mother the kit offered by the church DR. was because the family wanted her to die to get the inheritance.

OK, so it wasn't pain meds, the mother wasn't some sort of Christian Scientist that was against the use of drugs, that wasn't the reason they might have honored her wishes. The mystery is solved...she would have LOVED to get some pain meds or, as we find out in the last moments, an experimental cure.

But the family wasn't having it. It was payday. Everyone was dirty including the father who, very early on in the film, resented the offering of the kit by the church doctor.

The church gets revenge against the mother's abusive husband years earlier by staging an accidental death and then years later, wipes out the whole fam in hopes someone will feed her the drug to make her all better..and..to rid the mom of vulture like family, just waiting for her money.

OK. Fine. Whatever. I got it. I think?

Who cares? The more I think about this story by actually writing it out, the lower my rating goes and now, at the end of this final paragraph, this film goes from the middle of the road to the bottom of the stack for me. Whoops! I shouldn't have tried so hard to think about it!

Starts off well, but quickly turns into silliness.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 28 September 2018]

Mercy wasn't necessarily a bad film, indeed the opening twenty minutes or so were rather intriguing, a nice build up, good motives for family feud, but once it started unravelling it transformed into nonsense. At times I was reminded of You're Next, but at no stage did it reach those levels of gripping excitement.

It wasn't difficult to follow, but the realisation of who was behind the home invasion was dealt with in a way that you can only describe as heavy handed, the reveal three quarters of the way through was very silly, I couldn't take it seriously. Too many unanswered questions at the end, were all brothers aware of what was going on? Never fully answered.

Quite well acted, with decent production values, the masks were very effective, but with those, as with the rest of the film, there's nothing new here. A little flat, 5/10

Tepid drama turns gripping home invasion.

[lotard · 3/10 · 28 August 2016]

Two pairs of brothers from different fathers convene at the family house to attend to their dying mother. Discussions on inheritance and euthanasia follow (or is it really euthanasia?), but we see little actual attending, as if the bed-ridden, half-conscious patient required no attention whatsoever. Hence, later in the movie, we share in the surprise of a home-invader, who finds out that the husband sleeps in the same room as his wife.

So little is explained about the conflict between the brothers, that it barely sets us up for one of the "surprise reveals" that riddle the script. A more confident story-teller would have let us figure that out solely on the basis of the fact that the men differ in the amount of facial hair. One of the brothers brings along a girlfriend so timid, I believed she's just an infatuated co-worker, who hoped to moved the relationship forward by tagging along. She's told to mind her own business and that's mostly what she does.

Home invasion follows. Gripping in its abruptness and competent in execution, it provides a respite from the shallow drama tedium. Unexpectedness of the times of death and their mundane quality is welcome. A two-perspective retelling of the events adds to the drama and the jump scares are earned.

Alas, with so much time spent on cryptic, intentionally obfuscated dialogue and so little on actual storytelling (flashbacks might have helped), the deaths lack an emotional impact. A great comedic potential stemming from the fact that a bunch of amateurs invade a house filled with grown men, remains sadly untapped as well, especially considering some scenes later in the movie sent the audience laughing. The duality of the cult as a second family and a competition to the actual, dysfunctional family is never explored either.

The sun sets and raises over an area so anonymous, it could be anywhere. This is in stark contrast to the house that feels surprisingly lived-in, almost to the point of telling more of the story than the dialogues. The cinematography is functional and the camera is (usually) in focus.

Credit-roll, trailer-bait burning grass that spells 'Mercy' recalls the hilarious hijinks of 'The Purge' invaders. It complements the main theme of the movie which seems to be 'avoiding direct communication' (especially with the audience). Incidentally, mercy is what you might need to enjoy this movie. Too bad no one would be invading your cinema to administer it to you.

What... Did... I... Watch???

[korydero · 1/10 · 28 August 2019]

Okay first things first, I give it negative stars. It now owes ME stars. Second WHAT WAS THE PREMISE ABOUT THIS MOVIE??? The kids (except one) want the mom to die, they cultish church doesn't. They break in to give her a cure to what? Cancer? Did I miss the part where they said what's killing her? And if it IS cancer, how the heck did they make the cure for it? They could have saved us ALL the trouble and had the pastor sneak in well before they all showed up!!! The father had to go grocery shopping sometime!!! They could have gone in then and cured her!!! My point is I have to be up at 6:30 for work, I could have watched a more deserved movie instead of waisting my time on that atrocity!

Bizarre

[jhr2012 · 1/10 · 23 November 2016]

I caught this on Netflix and as is usually the case, it's another pile of crap movie that only Netflix can offer up. You would think a service that you pay for could actually offer some decent movies, but instead they give us B movie crap like this.

I was totally frustrated by this movie as I never understood what was going on, and there was no explanation at the end. It had potential, and had they given the viewer some idea as to what was going on, it might have worked.

If you run across this one on Netflix, save yourself some time. Pass on this mess. You'll thank me.

Some promising ideas, but ultimately not quite worthwhile.

[ryandannar · 3/10 · 29 November 2016]

A deathbed-drama turns into a home-invasion thriller, and dark secrets are revealed -- all to little effect -- in the clumsy and not-quite- worthwhile "Mercy."

The plot involves four brothers who convene upon the family homestead as their mother nears death. The patriarch fathered only two of the boys. The other two are children from the dying woman's previous marriage; their father died under mysterious circumstances, leaving her a sizeable sum of money. There's a rift between both pairs of half-brothers, a rift which is aggravated by the living patriarch, who wishes to keep the inheritance to himself and his biological children.

The drama plays-out with quiet tension, leaving us with a few too many questions -- like: The four of them have been provided with what appears to be a DIY euthanasia-kit by a local doctor. It's established that they all believe their mother is suffering. And yet, they unanimously object to the use of euthanasia. It seems this may stem from religious belief. And yet, the way they suspiciously eye one another about it, and the way the DIY kit keeps getting thrown away and then "significantly" re-appearing, it seems like all isn't what it appears to be.

Well, and it's not, quite frankly. There are a few twists to this tale. The first is a home-invasion, which happens quite abruptly and changes the feel of the film. The second is the reveal of the identity of the invaders, which is more surprising than I had guessed. The third concerns the true nature of that euthanasia kit.

Ultimately, having seen the full scope of the plot, I can see what someone may have seen in this material. It's a crafty setup. But it's terribly underserved by both the writing and the execution.

A better version of this film would have had sharper dialogue and more closely-observed characters. The four brothers presented by this film are fairly generic guys; each is given a defining trait or two, but no meaningful dialogue is exchanged between them, other than whatever is necessary to advance the plot. A better film would have traced the deep rift between these siblings; it might have referenced a specific event in the past which touched them all in different ways; it might have said something about the nature of familial division. Instead, we're given four brothers who talk like crooks getting ready to pull a heist, each one suspicious of the others. We're given no insight into their personal lives.

A better version of this film would also have played a bit more with the religious themes. There is a definite ironic comparison to be made between the dad's sternness, his presumed moralistic idealism, and the kind of faith which becomes part of the film's final act.

A better film would also have made those final-act twists work better. These twists should be quite shocking -- but as delivered by this film, they just leave us feeling a little puzzled and unsatisfied. We need to feel, more strongly, the ironic nature of what happens at the end in the mother's room. A better film might have done this by setting-up certain signifiers earlier in the film, certain things which might have raised questions or doubts, so that when the final act pulls these sudden reversals, we can better appreciate what's happening and it doesn't feel so... well, kind of arbitrary.

A better film would also have utilized the cinematography and the editing better. "Mercy" isn't exactly an ugly film, but it's a film without a strong sense of visual direction. This is a story which involves things both spoken and unspoken, secrets, and misdirection. Some clever camera-work and thoughtful editing could have helped to tell the story, could have "said" the things that the characters themselves aren't saying. Instead, "Mercy" gives us the flat, affectless, somewhat-shaky look which has become the hallmark of the generic, low- budget home-invasion thriller.

Overall, it's not great film. It's barely a good one. There were certainly some promising elements here, but those are quite underserved by this film's thoughtless, generic execution.

Viewer, have mercy on yourself: Do not watch this!

[bseaman-20248 · 2/10 · 13 May 2017]

I am told that American Netflix has a far better selection of movies; good movies, i.e. ones with a coherent plot, good acting and a sense of dramatic timing. However I have seen enough of Canadian Netflix to assert that many movies on the service are simply filler that must have been made by wealthy "wanna-be" film producers or charming con artists who managed to cajole wealthy friends to part with their money and finance a film. All the imagination and timing went into the making of the trailer for this. Do not be fooled. You have been warned. I'll give a nod to Mercy's maker for the first 20 minutes or so: he did a capable, if pedestrian, job of setting up the dramatic contours for a conflict of some kind that does not end well. Had the remainder of the movie followed this arc (without resorting to a clumsy back-in-time approach to explain what just happened which left me confused at various points) then I would have rated this a 6 (for mildly diverting, at times intense, but I am glad I didn't drop $12 to see this at a theatre).

Really unsatisfactory and hardly worth calling a thriller.

[RealCaveman · 3/10 · 22 November 2016]

In the beginning of the film, we are kept in the dark of what is really going on. As the story stumbles forwards, the rivalry, discord and differences among the family is apparent. Although I find that not uncommon when family meet after a long time. It soon becomes clear that the issue at hand is to euthanize the very ill mother. She seems to be in great pain, hence the title 'Mercy'. There is also the large sum of money from the mother's inheritance involved. So far not so very different than the average Christmas dinner with the whole family present... The twist however comes at the very end, when masked men enter the house. The euthanasia-machine is connected and activated and we expect mother to die. The only other woman in the film is the girlfriend of one of the sons. It seems to me that her only role in the movie is to scream, knock over a glass (where she steps into) and leave her mobile phone for the intruders. We do not get an explanation what or why the fuss was all about of getting the mother the drugs or who the men are who are taking her away. All in all a very vague movie.

Not that bad.

[megamelfina-995-947675 · 7/10 · 14 June 2018]

I'm surprised at all the one star reviews - it is definitely not nearly that bad.

I thought this was a good thriller, and I loved the 'twist'. I really enjoyed the conclusion. It was a little hard to follow at times, and I could have done without the short start, re-do, and ending format. However, I don't feel like that ruined the movie.

I would recommend giving it a try - it's not perfect, but it's also not the worst movie ever as many reviews would have you believe.

For Goodness sake...

[bangel3322 · 1/10 · 4 July 2020]

The premise of this story was intriguing and that was the only reason I watched until the end. But the execution of the film was awful. It was too choppy and sketchy and didn't explain things properly at all. I get the gist but the 'twist' wasn't really a 'twist' at all. I thought the 'twist' was evident from the beginning. They needed to go into a lot more depth here with a film like this. And I'm disappointed because it had potential to be a really good film. The beginning is slow and 49mins in, I still had no idea what was going on. Major plot holes, too many unanswered questions. A big thumbs down from me.

Not a good movie.

[jes-jan-hul · 26 November 2016]

If you have absolutely nothing to do, watch it. If however you feel the urge to pull your fingernails out with a pair of pliers then I suggest you will have more satisfaction with the latter. Wasted a Sunday afternoon with this movie. Good on ya Netflix. It could always be worse though. I might have taken my lady to the cinema and spent money for the two of us to be disappointed beyond belief. 90 percent of the movie was filmed in dark conditions and it was very hard to follow the story as the characters were unrecognizable most of the time and you didn't know if the masked guys were getting on top or the brothers actually got a win. Sad to see that in our day and age with all the technology available that someone can get a movie so wrong with camera work alone. Then there was the acting. At least everything about the movie was consistent.

Disappointed Disappointed Disappointed. If you read my review and still go ahead and watch this rubbish then you cant say you haven't been warned. Hey look.... golf is on channel 2. At least it will be better than what I've just put myself through.

Tge End is Simple

[max-siqueira-1189 · 10/10 · 18 June 2020]

I didn't understand why people hated this movie so much. he is electrifying and I honestly couldn't solve the mystery until it was revealed. today's generation needs all the answers, can't they think for themselves?

The ending is surprising. they were not fighting to kill her but to save her. what was in the syringe was the cure and not a poison and everyone knew it except for his girlfriend. the cult that invades the house was not the "villain" but the good guys.

Sympathy for the devil

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 9 March 2017]

Not the literal one that is. But the question that I reckon some have raised is not to be taken lightly. Can you enjoy/watch a movie where it's hard to root for the "good" guys? If you'd actually call them that. There is quite a bit going on and you probably have read what this is about, I'll still keep it as if you haven't.

Not every movie is meant to be simple. That doesn't mean you have to accept the road it takes and see that it is good. But if you are willing to accept certain things and take this as life, but also larger than life, with a really crazy twist and some despicable human beings, and a movie that will try to confuse you in the end ... you may be able to call it a satisfying movie watching experience. I know I can

Interesting ideas, sloppy execution.

[haleyriley97 · 2/10 · 25 March 2018]

I won't go too in depth on the plot of the movie, since quite a few have already done so in these reviews. This movie had a few interesting ideas that I personally haven't encountered too often. However I found the movie's story writing to be very sloppy. There wasn't much to figure as a viewer, so a lot of the suspense was lost. You could tell the jumpscares we're coming a mile away. They spent no time developing the characters, so you didn't care when anything happens to them. For me personally, by the time I learned their name, they were gone. If I had to describe this movie in two words it would sloppy and, most importantly, BORING. Seems as though Netflix is no longer concerned with the quality of their own content. Big surprise.

A waste of time and very slow & dull.

[Entertainment-Buff · 1/10 · 6 August 2017]

I came across this film streaming on Netflix, so I decided to check it out. It was a complete waste of time. It moves at a snail's pace, particularly for the first 45 minutes. The producers must have made the pacing very slow to qualify it as a 90-minute feature film. This story could have been told in one hour. The non-dialogue scenes should be time compressed to reduce the overall running time of the film. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.

Worst Horror and Thriller Movie

[kivancselvi-93102 · 1/10 · 5 July 2021]

*Spoiler* I actually like the idea about cult, but killing everyone in the home is ridiculous.

On the worse side of o.k.

[TerribleKatherine · 5/10 · 3 June 2018]

I.. I really don't know what to say. The movie was okay, but just okay and a tad on the more negative side. I would've probably given 6/10 if the movie hadn't been so freaking dark and the actors didn't look so alike, especially in the dark. The plot was actually really surprising. I wish there was more of a back story, but you can do just so much in 87 minutes. I cannot say I feel like I wasted my time, the movie was watchable but I cannot give a better grade.

So bad, it should be banned

[mrwildgoose · 1/10 · 1 August 2021]

Waste of time. These movies need to be sued.

Desperate attempt at a suspenseful drama, but it falls on its face.

Poor execution of an interesting idea

[MaxxRockers · 3/10 · 18 February 2019]

Not well written or executed. The acting was fine, but the characters were not well developed. For example, we just get bits and pieces of conversation. Nothing is ever hashed out, which is frustrating due to the presentation of tension between the characters. Other things just don't make sense. Why plot a home invasion at the rare evening when the entire family (6 and a guest) all happen to be there? Victim one in the woods stabs his perpetrator with a knife then leaves the knife in the body rather than cutting the ropes around his wrists. Another brother uncovers a motorcycle from the shed, and oh my, there happens to also be a loaded gun there as well. One step brother reveals to the other that he and his real brother are cut out of the inheritance-why? what's the purpose? That would completely work against the final twist of the plot. There's more, but hopefully I've said enough to keep you from wasting your time.

Not your average movie.

[nlxl · 7/10 · 1 May 2017]

Judging by (most of) the other reviews I watched a different movie.

The pictures, the atmosphere, the soundtrack are top-notch. The characters might be a little flat, stereotyped.

The movie is categorized as drama, mystery, thriller. I'd rather omit the category "mystery". It's not really a mystery.

The concept of the movie is interesting; sometimes it doesn't seem to be thoroughly thought through.

The story, though, is thought-provoking.

I will definitely watch it again!

Absolutely Positively One Of The Worst Movies Ever

[usajet · 1/10 · 26 November 2016]

Absolutely Positively One Of The Worst Movies Ever

One Star - Awful

This movie repeats scenes over and over again.

The acting is horrible.

Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT waste your time watching this movie. Netflix should be ashamed of themselves to even offer this movie to the public. No name actors should have skipped this one as I am sure it was NOT helpful to their careers.

Again, don't waste your time with this GARBAGE.

It is almost criminal that this movie was made for public consumption.

AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL...!!!

I repeat - AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL...!!!

Do NOT bother.

Tricky little gem

[baunacholi-86159 · 8/10 · 5 December 2019]

1st and foremost I really liked MERCY. It's probably wrong advertised as a home invasion a la you're next or funny games. This is a shame since the movie definitely has something to tell which goes beyond your usual suspects or bland story line. I would even go that far to call it deep. Mercy tackles a very complex and unusual topic (SPOILER: euthanasia and the role of your religion). As simple as the start might look like (2x2 brothers go home to their parents and the fight starts) the story evolves with quite some twists and plays especially with the audience/you in this case. We tend to have a firm believe about what's going on but we're not. So if you're up for an unusual thriller which requires your fullest attention - mercy is an excellent choice.

Terrible

[jsperraz · 15 September 2019]

Poorly written, poorly directed, poorly acted. Save your time and watch anything else.

Wait until it turns upside down

[CharbelRahme · 7/10 · 10 July 2019]

At some point i thought "mercy" is not different than any other cheap-ideas movie, but when the things turned upside down to reveal the truth behind this family, i found out that this movie deserve a good rating!

Please Say Mercy On Me

[theforager · 1/10 · 1 June 2020]

I don't know why this was made. I think whoever made this got confused and could keep the story on track.

Its a total waste of time. When story starts it seems then something mystical is going to happen or some secret is going to be revealed and suddenly story collapses.