It’s shocking how greedy people can be in the midst of death. You would think that the weight of grief and sorrow that stems from watching a loved one suffer would spark a rekindling of spirits who hold the family name, but the truth is, death makes monsters out of even the most honest men. Brothers who once shared laughs and put puzzles together on the living room floor are suddenly at each others’ throats, ready to throw away a perfectly good friendship as long as it means more numbers in their bank statement. In Mercy, it’s unclear who the Mitchell family was in the time before the lady of the house, Mrs. Mitchell, fell ill, but now that she’s bedridden and on the brink of demise, they’re nothing more than covetous savages on the prowl for cold hard cash.

The kids keep saying that there’s a way to end their mother’s suffering, but no one will speak any further on the subject, not even Brad, whose girlfriend Melissa has been pestering him about it ever since they arrived back at his childhood home, along with the rest of the family. Brad and Travis are from their mother’s first marriage, and clearly, even though it’s been many years, their half brothers Ronnie and TJ are still not fond of them. The same goes for their father, who claims he’s figured a way to write his children-by-marriage out of his wife’s will. According to Mr. Mitchell, only he and his boys will be receiving any payment from that thing in bedroom upstairs who used to be his wife. Once she passes on, the money will be theirs, and it’s only a matter of time until she takes her last breath.

Once they’re all united back home, the gang briefly mentions that they need to go over their mother’s will, but after the tension quickly escalates into a fight, they all decide to go to bed and figure it out later. Unfortunately, the frightening men in ski masks waiting in the dark outside have other plans. As soon as night falls, Ronnie, TJ, and their father all disappear without a trace, leaving Brad and Travis to fend for themselves against the onslaught of hooded figures who are trying to fight their way into their home. After the men bust their way inside and back the boys and Melissa into a corner – which happens to be, not surprisingly, their mother’s bedroom – they see a bright light coming from outside. The masked men have burned the word “Mercy” into the grass in the front lawn, and wait patiently next the flames, staring up at the boys in the window. Now it becomes clear that their attacks have a purpose. They don’t just want to break in and terrorize this family or steal their property, they want these sons to ease their mother’s pain and give her the experimental drug, known as Mercy. Will the boys cave to their predators’ demands and supply their mother with the medicine to stop her pain, or will they stand their ground, reject this strange order, and try to just simply make it out alive?

Mercy’s strongest suit is that it actually contains a very unique premise for a home invasion thriller. The idea that a family could possibly be hunted in their own home by a local and seemingly honorable religious group provides a fresh take on a sub genre which seems to have tackled nearly every kind of narrative thus far. Like any good home invasion movie, it suggests that just because people live in what they consider to be a nice community, doesn’t necessarily mean that the others who live there can be trusted. It also contains a few decently creepy moments, proving that with time, director Chris Sparling could possibly grow into a noteworthy horror filmmaker.

Despite the fact that it delivers on the home invasion front, there’s one major problem with the movie Mercy: all of its characters are completely irredeemable.

Mr. Mitchell starts out the movie by slamming the front door in a doctor’s face who tries to help him with his wife, and then immediately turns around and tells his sons he’s found a way to cut their half brothers out of their mother’s will. His boys, Ronnie and TJ, are clearly thrilled with their father’s sleazy plan, and Ronnie even goes as far as to taunt Travis about how he won’t be getting any money. It’s hard to feel sorry for Travis, though, who’s apparently had a record for as long as he’s been able to walk, and is actually planning to use his mother’s money as a way to get out of a debt he owes to some very bad people. Even Brad, the boy from his mother’s first marriage who lost his father in a horrible accident and is clearly supposed to be our emotional anchor in the film, turns out to be hard to relate to as well, because he’s just as as greedy and selfish as the rest of them.

The most important part of any home invasion thriller is the intensity felt by the audience, because they care about the lead characters and want them to survive. However, when it comes to Mercy, it’s hard to feel sorry for anyone involved, due to the fact that they have been proving since the beginning of the film that not a single one of them is worthy of redemption. Because it’s difficult to invest in the characters, the result is a story that feels dragged out, uneventful, and rather pointless, especially when the big twist is revealed in the end and it becomes clear just how messy the storytelling really is.

Overall, Mercy features a cool concept, but its special take on home invasion is sold short by the fact that none of the characters in the film feel like they’re worth rooting for. Director Sparling is pretty effective at conjuring up some eerie moments, but without likable characters, it’s almost impossible to fret over the safety of the family under attack.