The Mercy, the “engrossing” British drama starring Jonathan Bailey and Colin Firth, is due to be removed from a UK streamer in the coming days – here’s everything you need to know before it leaves.
The 2018 film is based on the real-life story of Donald Crowhurst (played here by Firth), who, in 1968, attempted to circumnavigate the world in a yacht as part of the Golden Globe Race.
The biographical drama, which is written by Scott Z Burns and directed by James Marsh, is currently available to stream in the UK on Netflix, though viewers will have to hurry as it is due to be removed from the streamer on Saturday 4 October.
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In addition to Firth and Bailey, the latter of whom portrays Wheeler, the stacked cast for the film includes Rachel Weisz, David Thewlis, Ken Stott, Mark Gatiss, Andrew Buchan and a very young Kit Connor.
Despite not making a big impression at the box office, The Mercy was generally well received by critics, with Rotten Tomatoes currently reporting an approval rating of 73% from 82 reviews.
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“Despite the hint of a stiff-upper-lip kind of reserve, this is astonishingly brutal. And Firth’s performance makes this dark, dark story land,” opined Empire Magazine, while Arizona Republic called it an “engrossing character study”.
“Colin Firth is interesting casting as Crowhurst: he is very good at suggesting the man’s decency and likability as well as his perfectly genuine courage and ingenuity,” wrote The Guardian in a three-star review.
The Financial Times also praised Firth’s central performance, noting: “Meltdown measured by the cubic millimetre: that’s what Firth gives and it’s perfect. This is a sea voyage in which we truly navigate by a star.”
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RogerEbert.com was less enthusiastic about the film, however, writing: “The film has been made with plenty of sincerity and no small amount of effort, but with no idea of what it wants to say.”
While this biographical drama is due to leave Netflix soon, another film that will be removed from the streamer is The Good Liar, with the Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen-led crime thriller set to depart the service the following week.
The Mercy is streaming on Netflix until 4 October.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. Â His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
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