Two very different mysteries

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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Friday, January 23rd. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: two very different takes on the mystery genre.

WORLD Arts and Culture editor Collin Garbarino reviews a new release—and a classic brought back to life.

COLLIN GARBARINO: This weekend, a new movie called Mercy opens in theaters. It stars Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson and it’s set in Los Angeles in the near future. Crime is out of control, and the city has implemented a new artificial intelligence justice system for the worst offenders.

JUDGE MADDOX: Based on available evidence, I have already judged your probability of guilt to be 97.5%.

Ferguson plays the imperious AI who acts as judge, jury, and executioner. Pratt plays a police officer who’s now at the mercy of the draconian system he once championed.

JUDGE MADDOX: Mr. Raven, how do you plead?

CHRIS RAVEN: Not guilty. I’m not guilty.

Pratt’s Officer Raven wakes up after a drunken brawl to find himself in a chair in the AI courtroom. He’s on trial for murdering his wife earlier that morning, but he can barely remember the day’s events.

JUDGE MADDOX: You may use any and all resources available to this court to provide me with evidence of your innocence. Should you be found guilty, you will be executed in precisely 90 minutes.

Those 90 minutes zip by in real time. The evidence against him looks bad. But Raven puts his police training to work, sifting through mountains of digital data looking for the real killer. In the AI courtroom, Raven has access to every cellphone record and internet connected device in the city.

JUDGE MADDOX: This is the Los Angeles Municipal Cloud. Every private citizen and organization is mandated by law to connect their devices to it.

The setup feels compelling, and the film benefits from slick visuals. Pratt spends most of the movie strapped to his chair surrounded by holograms of bodycam footage and livestreams.

But these promising elements are wasted in Mercy. The crime Raven uncovers ends up relying on a string of coincidences that make the central plot preposterous. It doesn’t help that none of the characters, including Raven, are particularly sympathetic. 

And the movie doesn’t even say anything insightful about the ethics of AI. In the end, it just kind of shrugs and mumbles something about how both humans and AI can make mistakes if we don’t have all the facts.

Mercy is a mildly entertaining police procedural, but it’s definitely something you can wait to watch when it finds its way to streaming.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a new mystery to stream right now, you might enjoy Agatha Christie's Seven Dials on Netflix.

SOUND: [Ticking]

This three-part series, based on the mystery novel of the same name, is one of those classic English-country-house whodunnits.

After a party at the home of Lady Caterham, played by Helena Bonham Carter, one of the guests dies of an overdose of sleeping medicine. 

Is it an accident? Or is it murder? Lady Caterham’s inquisitive daughter, Lady Eileen, aims to find out.

LADY CATERHAM: Well, if I learned one thing from your dear departed father, it’s this: it doesn’t do to ask too many questions.

Lady Eileen, who goes by the nickname “Bundle,” is played by a fresh-faced Mia McKenna-Bruce. Bundle may have recently experienced a personal tragedy, but her irrepressible spirit propels her deeper into the mystery.

OFFICER: Miss, you can’t go in there.

BUNDLE: You’re quite mistaken, officer, I absolutely can. See?

Her investigation puts her on the trail of the secretive Seven Dials club. Along the way, she crosses paths with an enigmatic police detective played by Martin Freeman. 

Both of them seem to think they’re in charge of the investigation.

SUPERINTENDENT BATTLE: You’re going to do exactly the opposite of what I’ve just advised, aren’t you?

BUNDLE: I don’t know why you’d think that.

I don’t usually expect too much from Netflix originals, but I found Agatha Christie's Seven Dials to be a worthwhile adaptation. The sets and costumes were charming. The dialogue, amusing. And the performances, endearing. McKenna-Bruce’s Bundle is the epitome of a plucky heroine.

Also, there isn’t much objectionable content. The show is rated TV-14 for “fear and smoking.” It’s a murder mystery, so expect to see some dead bodies lying in pools of blood, but there’s no sensuality or strong language. 

Seven Dials is like a more fast-paced version of those classic Masterpiece Murder series.

LADY CATERHAM: In my experience, people who go looking for trouble usually find it.

The series features a multilayered mystery. As the characters talk through the clues, most viewers will have the satisfaction of solving part of the crime before the detectives do. But in true Agatha Christie style, there’s always a twist.

Of course, Bundle and Battle wrap up the mystery, but the series concludes by leaving the door open for more of Bundle’s adventures. 

I’m hoping the show garners enough views that Netflix considers green-lighting a sequel.

I’m Collin Garbarino.

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