Mercy Road review by Bobby Blakey
Well Go USA continues to churn out all sorts of interesting films across all genres. The latest, Mercy Road stars Luke Bracey, Toby Jones, Susie Porter and Huw Higginson from Chappaquiddick director John Curran. Could this thriller manage to bring something that stands out or will it be a phone call not worth taking?
Mercy Road follows a frantic father who goes on the run from law enforcement and soon begins receiving chilling calls from an unknown entity claiming to know her whereabouts after committing an impulsive, vicious crime while searching for his missing daughter. As he faithfully follows the caller’s increasingly unhinged instructions, he is driven perilously close to the edge of sanity while discovering exactly how far he is willing to go to save his child.
I didn’t know much going in on this one but love a good thriller. As it plays out you quickly realize this is a one man show with Bracey being the only person on camera for the most part except for a couple of quick moments of others. This had the potential of crashing and burning fast while trying to maintain the tension and pace. I fully expected it to do just that because it amps up pretty fast, but manages to keep it going right up until the very end.
This entire film hinges on Bracey being able to carry the film all alone and he does a great job. From the moment it begins he has built an urgency to whatever is going on and you want to know what that is. The structure is simple, but thanks to some clever angles and uses of the phone it feels a lot bigger than it actually is. It brings almost a Hitchcockian tone to it all as it builds the mystery and brings the viewer in for this intense ride.
There are elements that drag at times while its time to bring it all together, but not so much that ever makes you never stay interested. There are elements of it all that remain ambiguous and don’t answer all the questions, but instead allow you to make some of your own opinions o where it went while still telling you so much. Make no mistake, there is plenty of information and you know the story as it is revealed, but it’s that little something special at the end that makes you think a bit more than you might have otherwise.
This film won’t work for everyone and if you are someone that needs a film to offer up tons of characters and set pieces then this isn’t the film for you. I for one enjoyed it and appreciate what they managed to put together with such a small space and idea.
Decide for yourself and grab your copy of Mercy Road available now on Blu-ray and DVD from Well Go USA.