History Film / TheMercy

* AnAesop: A few of them:
** BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor, especially when it comes to fame. If the entire world is paying attention to what you're doing, you better not screw up. To say CelebrityIsOverrated would be a ''massive'' understatement.
** Sometimes, choosing to be TheDeterminator who decides to TakeAThirdOption is the ''worst'' possible idea, and you have to KnowWhenToFoldEm.
** Trying to cover up a big lie - regardless of the reason - will get you in far more trouble than if you were just honest in the first place.
** Unchecked pride and ambition are dangerous [[spoiler: and can get you killed.]]
** If you're inexperienced, be honest with yourself - and others! - and don't take on more risks than you can handle.
** Cutting corners is a bad practice in general. Opt for reliability instead.
** Just because the triumph of an underdog makes a good story doesn't mean that it often happens in reality.

* DisqualificationInducedVictory: Played with. There are several contenders in the Golden Globe Race. But by the end, [[spoiler: everyone aside from Crowhurst and Know-Johnston either breaks down or quits, leaving them the only ones left in the race with Crowhurst set to take the prize for fastest time... Which is exactly what Crowhurst ''doesn't'' want.]] Finally played straight [[spoiler:when Knox-Johnston, the only one to actually complete the non-stop circumnavigation, wins the prize money by default.]]

* DisqualificationInducedVictory: Played with. There are several contenders in the Golden Globe Race. But by the end, [[spoiler: everyone aside from Crowhurst and Know-Johnston either breaks down or quits, leaving them the only ones left in the race with Crowhurst in the lead for the prize money... Which is exactly what Crowhurst ''doesn't'' want.]] Finally played straight [[spoiler:when Knox-Johnston, the only one to actually complete the circumnavigation, wins the prize money by default.]]

* UnderdogsNeverLose: Almost everyone ''thinks'' this trope is in effect, especially when the media put their spin on it. Crowhurst is not an experienced sailor, his ship has an unusual design but is packed with modern equipment, he's leaving on the last day of the race, and he's got confidence in spades. Reality is more complicated than that. [[spoiler: Crowhurst fails miserably within weeks of leaving. He languishes for 243 days in the Atlantic because his ship isn't capable of going beyond, he reports fake positions to pretend he's still going, and tries to sneak back into the race at the end and get last place because no one would ever bother looking at the log books of a loser. But then all the other contenders for the fastest record either give up or break down, leaving him the ''only'' one left to cross the finish line[[note]]Knox-Johnston technically completed the race first, but Crowhurst will be the one with the fastest time[[/note]]. But he can't do that without getting too much attention, which would result in his ruse being discovered and leaving him in financial ruin.]]

* DisqualificationInducedVictory: Played with. There are several contenders in the Golden Globe Race. But by the end, [[spoiler: everyone aside from Crowhurst and Know-Johnston either breaks down or quits, leaving them the only ones left in the race with Crowhurst in the lead for the prize money... Which is exactly what Crowhurst ''doesn't'' want.]] Finally played straight [[spoiler:when Knox-Johnston, the only one left after Crowhurst commits suicide, finishes the race and earns the trophy and prize money.]]

* SpannerInTheWorks: As Colin Firth talks about in the bonus material, there are a lot of factors and little decisions that seem inconsequential at the time, but mark the line between life and death. The biggest factor is the boat's hull not getting fitted with the right protection due to time constraints, which [[spoiler: makes it impossible for Crowhurst to survive in the Roaring Forties, and causes him to abandon the race.]] However, the most unexpected twist comes when [[spoiler: Tetley - the only one left to viably challenge Crowhurst - drops out near the end of the race. He wrecks his boat while trying to catch up to Crowhurst's fake position. This makes Crowhurst the winner by default, as the only other competitor - Knox-Johnston- is too far behind to catch up, which ''completely'' derails his plan of returning to England in last place to avoid attention.]]

* UnderdogsNeverLose: Almost everyone ''thinks'' this trope is in effect, especially when the media put their spin on it. Crowhurst is not an experienced sailor, his ship has an unusual design but is packed with modern equipment, he's leaving on the last day of the race, and he's got confidence in spades. Reality is more complicated than that. [[spoiler: Crowhurst fails miserably within weeks of leaving. He languishes for 243 days in the Atlantic because his ship isn't capable of going beyond, he reports fake positions to pretend he's still going, and tries to sneak back into the race at the end and get last place because no one would ever bother looking at the log books of a loser. But then all the other contenders for the fastest record either give up or break down, leaving him the ''only'' one left to cross the finish line first[[note]]Knox-Johnston is still technically in the "race", but he won't arrive back in England before Crowhurst does[[/note]]. But he can't do that without getting too much attention, which would result in his ruse being discovered and leaving him in financial ruin.]]

* DisqualificationInducedVictory: Played with. There are several contenders in the Golden Globe Race. But by the end, [[spoiler: everyone aside from Crowhurst either breaks down or quits, leaving him the ''only'' one left in the race... Which is exactly what he ''doesn't'' want.]]

* PyrrhicVictory: Played with. Crowhurst got the fame and attention he wanted, but [[spoiler: actually winning the race was exactly what he ''didn't'' want, as it'd draw too much attention to his forged sailing logs. When his only remaining opponent drops out with barely a thousand miles left, he loses what was left of his sanity.]]

* SpannerInTheWorks: As Colin Firth talks about in the bonus material, there are a lot of factors and little decisions that seem inconsequential at the time, but mark the line between life and death. The biggest factor is the boat's hull not getting fitted with the right protection due to time constraints, which [[spoiler: makes it impossible for Crowhurst to survive in the Roaring Forties, and causes him to abandon the race.]] However, the most unexpected twist comes when [[spoiler: Tetley - the only one left to challenge Crowhurst - drops out near the end of the race. He wrecks his boat while trying to catch up to Crowhurst's fake position. This makes Crowhurst the winner by default, which ''completely'' derails his plan of returning to England in last place to avoid attention.]]
* SpringtimeForHitler: An infamously non-comedic example. Crowhurst enters the contest in the hopes of winning the £5000 (worth over £91,000 in 2021) prize, which would go a long way towards helping his family, bring attention to his failing business, and give him a taste of fame and glory. But to finance the boat, he has to put up his house and business as collateral; if he doesn't finish the race, he'll lose everything. [[spoiler: Once he finally makes it out on the ocean, he quickly realizes that his ship can't handle the Roaring Forties past the Cape of Good Hope, and continuing the race is tantamount to suicide. But he can't go back home, either. So he drifts around the Atlantic for months, creating a fake log book and reporting false positions to make it seem like he's still in the race. He knows that his records will be double checked by officials when he makes it back, and so he's dug himself deeper into a hole of lies. He decides to drop all radio contact and go undetected, and then rejoin the race once the other sailors are passing by his area. No one will bother checking the logs if he comes in last. ]] This plan would have worked, except for one unforeseen factor: [[spoiler: ''all of the other contenders break down or quit''.]] With the race nearly over, [[spoiler: Tetley - his only remaining opponent - pushes himself too hard to catch up to Crowhurst's fake position and capsizes his boat. As a result, Crowhurst wins by default, giving him everything he sought to get, but leaving him open to scrutiny and financial ruin.]]

* UnderdogsNeverLose: Almost everyone ''thinks'' this trope is in effect, especially when the media put their spin on it. Crowhurst is not an experienced sailor, his ship has an unusual design but is packed with modern equipment, he's leaving on the last day of the race, and he's got confidence in spades. Reality is more complicated than that. [[spoiler: Crowhurst fails miserably within weeks of leaving. He languishes for 243 days in the Atlantic because his ship isn't capable of going beyond, he reports fake positions to pretend he's still going, and tries to sneak back into the race at the end and get last place because no one would ever bother looking at the log books of a loser. But then all the other contenders either give up or break down, leaving him the ''only'' one left to cross the finish line. But he can't do that without getting too much attention, which would result in his ruse being discovered and leaving him in financial ruin.]]