MERCY ROAD (Melbourne IFF 2023) – Review by Nadine Whitney
Writer/director John Curran’s Australian psychological thriller Mercy Road could be euphemistically be described as being too clever for its own good but that presumes the film is in any manner as clever as it is attempting to be. It’s filled with twists, turns, unanswered questions, dark mysteries… all elements that would add up to creating some audience engagement in a better film, but Curran’s work in almost every aspect of the film is sloppy and ill considered. From the dreadful lighting, the overbearing soundtrack, the structure of the film, and the sweaty ham-fisted performance by lead actor Luke Bracey, Mercy Road has precious little to recommend itself.
The plot, if one can generously call it such, revolves around construction worker Tom Roth (Bracey leaving his Hollywood romcom looks by the wayside) who has just committed a violent crime. The film starts with a gas flare and Roth desperately starting his car. In darkness he will drive all night long as his reckoning comes to him through a series of phone calls. He is desperately searching for his estranged twelve-year-old daughter, Ruby who called him the previous night in a state of complete distress. Ruby’s mother, Terri (Susie Porter) is also calling. There has been a murder at her home and her husband and Ruby’s step-father, Shane Bader is dead. No one knows where Ruby is, that is until Tom receives a call from a man calling himself The Associate (Toby Jones) who tells him he has been recruited to deal with the situation and he is always brought in when children are involved.
What follows is a jumble of conversations where the back story of the crime is revealed and Tom’s flaws as a parent and person are brought to light. An ex-alcoholic who drunkenly ruined his marriage, Tom has also been drifting through jobs for a long time. Unable to have a civil conversation with Terri, he has also been mostly absent with Ruby despite claiming how much he adores her. Ruby is having trouble at school and is rebelling, and Tom has been out of the loop for much of it, until now, where he seems to the at the centre of everything – including being the only one who can find Ruby.
The police think he has kidnapped Ruby and are chasing him from a distance. The constant is the increasingly threatening calls from The Associate who tells him he deals in “actions and consequences” and informs him that Ruby’s life will be over if he doesn’t follow his precise instructions and complete specific tasks in an allotted timeline that is counting down faster than Tom can possibly manage. On paper, perhaps, the scenario could be seen as nail-biting edge-of-the-seat stuff. In practice it is repetitive, deliberately obscure and simultaneously blindingly obvious. Even the title gives away the purgatorial aspect to the thriller. Luke Bracey mostly yells, swears, begs, breaks down – all with no nuance. Toby Jones, a titan of character actors, is quite literally phoning in his performance.
It’s hard to pinpoint what serves the film least: the script, the muddy visuals, Bracey’s inability to carry what is essentially a one-person drama. Together it coalesces into an underwhelming and frankly irritating experience. John Curran has made some Australian classics such as Praise and Tracks. Mercy Road is a massive misstep for both him and actor Luke Bracey. Mercy Road is an interminable ride.
