Alan and Wendy Barnet have been married just long enough for the excitement to have gone out of their relationship, and they're looking for a way to put some spice back in their lives. After placing a personal ad looking for another couple interested in swapping mates, the Barnets are led to the Zebra Lounge, where they meet Jack and Louise Bauer, a pair of seasoned erotic adventurers. While the Barnets find the swinging scene exciting at first, they soon decide it may be doing more harm than good to their marriage. But easing the Bauers out of their lives proves to be neither simple nor safe.
The film, which focuses on an Argentinian family during an intimate birthday dinner, efficiently captures the eccentricities of each character as well as the nuances of their interpersonal dynamics.
It’s passionately protective of the women mentioned in the story or appearing on screen. Just like the article and the #MeToo movement, the film could help a trapped person find the courage to fight back.
Even without the messaging, Mercy does not hold up as a movie. It's sloppily done and the mystery doesn’t tie together at the end.
This story solidified my choices to consume a more plant-based diet and nearly made me cancel my subscriptions to big corporations like Amazon. The narrative was perfectly crafted and on par with Bong Joon-Ho’s other major works; Parasite and Snowpiercer.
