A father has just committed a heinous crime, one that has left him running from the law. When that father, Tom (Luke Bracey), finds himself in a conspiracy in which his daughter is a hostage, he goes off the rails. Mercy Road follows Tom as he does all that he can in order to save his daughter from certain death.
Viewers are trapped in a car with Tom for nearly an hour and a half, with nowhere to go and rarely anything to see other than Tom himself. Mercy Road employs a few other actors, Toby Jones (The Associate), Alex Malone (Terri), and a handful of others, but they are merely voices (with the occasional appearance via FaceTime). Bracey is the face of the film, the thing that holds it together like Gorilla Glue, ensuring that it finds success. The constant intimacy between viewers and Bracey causes us to feel like we are along for the ride–but what it does even more is force the film’s main character to be perfect. There are three things that make Bracey’s performance so appealing: his voice, his facial expressions, and his ability to own such a small but important space.
VOICE: You’d be hard pressed to tell me that Bracey doesn’t sound exactly like Chris Hemsworth, that his deep, Australian voice doesn’t remind you of the Norse god of thunder. However, that’s not why his voice is so appealing, because he does a good job of tricking viewers into forgetting this little tidbit throughout the course of Mercy Road. He’s able to manipulate his voice, making it higher and lower as needed in any given situation throughout–and what his voice does to build the scene and make Mercy Road better as a whole is truly impressive.
FACIAL EXPRESSIONS: Bracey, again, is tasked with bringing this story to life visually all by himself. The way in which he is able to manipulate his face is impressive. He’s rarely talking to someone face to face, and he almost has to create his own tension to which he will react. Mercy Road sees Bracey constantly changing the look on his face. From terror, to insanity, to euphoria, Tom runs the gamut of emotions during the film, and Bracey never misses a beat along the way. He’s brilliant in this regard.
OWNING THE SPACE: Maybe the most impressive aspect of Bracey’s performance (and I know this isn’t all on him, but comes as a result of a plethora of individuals) is the way in which he is able to own the space in the car. This may not seem like a massive feat, like owning the space in a single motor vehicle wouldn’t be enough to write home about, but he has to find ways to move throughout that vehicle without taking up too much space or blending in with the constantly shifting background. As Mercy Road moves forward, Bracey constantly finds ways to shift his presence, to exist in a new space (even if that space is metaphorical), and to drive home a series of dark and twisted messages along the way.
Slowly viewers are pulled into this massively twisted story about a father and his missing daughter, and the pacing of the film couldn’t be better. With that said, however, there is so much going on–and I’m not sure that Mercy Road is meant to make sense. Furthermore, there’s no sense trying to make sense of anything–and the best course of action is to simply roll with the punches. We’re never really given any answers, and by the time Mercy Road has concluded, we have just as many questions as when we started. If you can accept this about the film, if you can deal with the fact that not everything is neatly wrapped up–Mercy Road, specifically Bracey’s performance, will work wonders.
Directed by John Curran.
Written by John Curran, Jesse Heffring, & Christopher Lee Pelletier.
Starring Luke Bracey, Toby Jones, Alex Malone, Martha Kate Morgan, Jenna Pham, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
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