A girl speaks through her voice mail, “I’m called Ruby, and this is my father,” she mumbles. “Please stay away from us.” John Curran (Eden, Chappaquiddick) directs a very tense new movie called Mercy Road where Ruby has certainly captured everyone’s attention by now. Now everybody calls Tom (Luke Bracey of One True Loves and Little Fires Everywhere), whom we know as just bloodied up in his work truck. The only problem is that Tom isn’t with Ruby which everyone seems to think he kidnapped her.
Now fleeing from something that occurred ominously several minutes ago, Tom frantically drives down the road in the dark of night. In his vehicle he receives one call after another. A few are from people barking orders – no other way about it. Another caller named “the associate” particularly is the lunatic who had kidnapped his daughter because well poor Tom did something nasty. Oh boy! This place is busy.
A couple of things make Mercy Road a gritty, heightened thriller that stands out among many others, first, it occurs mostly at night inside a truck while our hero rushes around to save her daughter. All this came from screenwriters Jesse Heffring (Sigma) and Christopher Lee Pelletier who wrote it along with John Curran. I thought about Locke starring Tom Hardy and another film later on called The Passenger which was about an innocent man being driven somewhere evil by another troubled soul much like what happens here although more intense yet still somewhat satisfying even though the over-the-top feel threatens to grind everything to a stop.
While putting your protagonist at risk can be effective, having him/her panicking for almost two hours may not always work well though Sandra Bullock’s Speed or Bruce Willis’ Die Hard made good use of comedy in their performances— unlike this one most times anyway anyway — didn’t? But you’ll love this film thanks to Luke Bracey’s dynamic performance, which is just too good for you not to. He was a great casting decision for the tense movie, nailing all the right emotional beats in accordance with what the script calls for.
Think of Mercy Road as a stylish gothic noir thriller. It has this strong aspect in both its look and tone. At sunset, Tom’s desperate journey begins on his truck through mountains into dense foggy night. Yes that is metaphorical to physically there is no light at all because he feels like his own heaven. The darkness signifies massive mood swings or it could be Tom’s own shadows. What a gloomy nightmare!
In the course of running away from the police, Tom calls never stop. His ex-wife (Alex Malone), who is desperate and angry. However, she does not believe him. Oh my God! At a time when a nervous workmate calls by bad luck. Ruby’s school phones. And it goes like this all day long raising his blood pressure every time he receives another call. The “associate” makes sure that Tom follows orders; remains in the truck and drives. Toying with Tom on some level, this guy was surely chipping at his mind.. But for what purpose? Just play along because it is quite puzzling to understand people’s actual motives, especially those we do not often see in this movie.
Notably, Mercy Road has all it needs for redemption story telling. It would be fair to say that there should have been fewer scenes of Tom begging for mercy as far as the audience was concerned anyway. However, that is understandable considering film title itself though ++ . This film also stars Martha Kate Morgan, Huw Higginson, Susie Porter and Toby Jones as ‘the associate’, which has many existential questions aimed directly at Tom. He may be flawed yet maybe too much.
So then who really is Tom? Still driving in the truck? What riddles will unfold once he gets there? Is his kidnapped daughter still alive? Only Heaven knows! The filmmaker keeps you guessing pretty well although sometimes it can feel quite irritating. But maybe that is precisely what they were trying to achieve.
The final twenty minutes of a film are typically its climax where it starts winding down; however, these ones give rise to a few new twists and turns instead. A person from Ruby’s past contacts Tom who might be able to assist him somehow. Now sweaty messes pours out headlong in one last desperate attempt to save Ruby.” Now if ever there was a scene in this movie that could have gone further in revealing some of Tom’s past and maybe even some of his own ideas about how to get things back on track, this is it. Instead, it continues to coast along at breakneck speed. Then, when the “associate” phones, this marks another occasion where such a person is always involved in these dark twisted games of control we see here. Perhaps, there are others like Tom living with whom the “associate” also becomes friends. Like God.
One other thing that says sequel possibilities are welcome. Though a bit difficult . It might be better not to touch this one anymore (The ending may divide viewers.) Mercy Road is not the best thriller to emerge this season, but it’s a gripping one at that. So hell yeah — let’s keep reading! It may be rough but never dull
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