My Days of Mercy | Film Review

Hey Guys x

This is a film that came into Netflix in the last two weeks or so. I hit the 'remind me' notification as soon as I read the description because, as well as it seeming like a really original love story in terms of the premise, I'm also constantly in need of LGBT+ love stories, and this looked like a great one.

Lucy (Ellen Page) and Mercy (Kate Mara) are on opposite sides of a political issue - Capital Punishment. However, for both of them, it's personal. So when they meet at a protest, they know that falling for each other would be the worst idea. But the girls become drawn to each other, and soon even the seriousness of their political stances can't keep them apart. But when Kate's views begin to negatively affect Lucy's family life, the girls must make a choice. Does love conquer all? Or are there some differences that no one could resolve?

I liked this movie a lot. It wasn't what I expected it to be in so many ways, but it was still an enjoyable film with a message, depending on what you take from it

As I already said, it has such an original premise. Not that two people who 'shouldn't' be together is original after all the Romeo and Juliet inspired stories, but there's definitely something different about this one. The things going on in their lives stand even without the romance accompanying them.

There's instant chemistry between Page and Mara's characters - not only are they believable as these individual characters, but they're also extremely believable as a couple.

Throughout the film, the word 'docile' kept coming to mind. And by this, I mean that it was very dialogue heavy, and there was practically no background music. Some parts were so quiet that you almost felt like you were involved in what was going on, that you had to keep quiet so that you didn't interrupt the characters on screen. It actually would have been quite peaceful if not for the harrowing subject matter.

While I was watching the film, I found that there was a lot that I didn't really care about. In fact, until near the end, I didn't even really care about either of the main protagonists, including whether or not they got together. However, this does change by the time the film ends. Not only do you care about these characters, but you suddenly become really invested in their story. I just wish it didn't take so long to happen.

However, my major problem with the film was that, while the filmmakers tried to give this a 'star-crossed' lovers thing, as you go through the film, you see that there's really nothing stopping them from being together. Yeah, they have different views, but they don't seem to care about that, so why should we?

The backdrop of them being on opposing sides of this issue isn't necessary for the love story portion of the movie because aside from a scene or two, it doesn't really change anything.

Overall, a really nice, if slightly harrowing, love story with an original premise, a great script and characters that you can really warm to.

6.5/10

Lou