''Mercy'' is a 2016 American thriller film written and directed by

Chris Sparling Chris Sparling (born March 21, 1977) is an American filmmaker from Providence, Rhode Island. Career Upon graduating from Roger Williams University and Bridgewater State University with degrees in Criminal Justice, and after writing, directing, ...

. The film had its world premiere at

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...

on June 4, 2016, and its distribution rights were acquired by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

Plot

Grace (Constance Barron) is dying. That much is clear. She is laid up in a hospital bed on the second floor of her farmhouse as her husband George (Dan Ziskie) does his best to take care of her. One day, a mysterious man knocks on the front door and thrusts a medical bag into George's hands, pleading with him to use what's inside and end the woman's suffering. George reluctantly takes it and slams the door in the man's face. We come to learn that Grace has four sons, two with George and two with her abusive ex-husband, a man who died and left a fortune in trust to Grace, meant to go to Brad (James Wolk) and Travis (Tom Lipinski), the sons of her first marriage, though George and the other two sons, Ronnie (Michael Godere) and TJ (Michael Donovan) are looking to squeeze them out. When they all come together as Grace seems near to her end, tensions surface, more so as Brad has brought along his new girlfriend Melissa (Caitlin FitzGerald) for support, to which everyone else seems outright appalled. As the evening passes, a curious mention of something between the family is alluded to, and how whatever is in the black bag will end her pain but the decision to do so is not easy. When Melissa asks why, the response is left unheard. It's not long after when the property comes under invasion of masked figures who attack the home, having Brad, Melissa, and Travis retreat into Grace's room to try and hold them off. The masked men abandon their efforts to get in the room and instead head back outside where the write word ‘Mercy’ in fire on the front lawn. They stand their ground and wait while Brad, Travis, and Melissa argue over what to do next. Choices are made, actions taken, a single puzzle piece falls upon the ground and a man is shot. When morning comes, we soon realize it is not the next day but in fact the same as the previous, played out again but now from a different perspective. This time, some gaps are filled and some questions answered, shifting everything we thought we knew about the brothers, the black bag, and even Grace.

Cast

James Wolk James Wolk (born March 22, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his starring roles in the CBS comedy series ''The Crazy Ones'' (2013–2014), the AMC period drama series ''Mad Men'' (2013–2014), the CBS drama thriller series '' Zoo'' (201 ...

as Brad *

Caitlin FitzGerald Caitlin FitzGerald (born August 25, 1983) is an American actress and filmmaker. She is best known for her role as Libby Masters in the Showtime television drama ''Masters of Sex'' and as the elusive Simone in Starz series '' Sweetbitter''. E ...

as Melissa * Tom Lipinski as Travis *

Dan Ziskie Dan Ziskie is an American actor and photographer. Ziskie portrayed the character Frank Niggar on a popular sketch on '' Chappelle's Show''. He was on '' Treme'', where he played a politically connected banker in Post-Katrina New Orleans. He had a ...

as George * Michael Godere as Ronnie * Michael Donovan as TJ * Dion Graham as Dr. Turner * Constance Barron as Grace

Production

Reception

References

External links