Exposed (2016 film)

Plot

A police detective investigates the circumstances behind his partner's death. The mysterious case leads to an attempted police cover-up and a dangerous secret involving an unlikely young woman. The two parallel story lines initially appear to have little in common, but as events gradually unfold in the two separate urban worlds, the young woman appears to somehow be involved in the detective's demise.

The dead cop was depraved and corrupt. His colleagues fear that the investigation into his death will bring these facts to light. The results would include bad press for the police department and the loss of his pension for his family. The fear is based on the fact that one of the prime suspects in the case is a young ex-convict who had allegedly been sexually molested with a broomstick wielded by Detective Cullen. Supervisors within the precinct would rather let the murderer go free than to open up a Pandora's Box of troubles for everyone concerned.

Meanwhile in Isabel's private world, she believes that the strange beings she has begun seeing on the streets are angels. Accordingly, she thinks that her mysterious "impossible" pregnancy is a gift from God. Strangely, however, nobody in her family believes her. Surprisingly, they are eventually proven to be correct.

Isabel's "angels" are a fabrication of her own mind. She created them to accompany a fictional narrative that would replace the unbearably traumatic memories of being raped by Detective Cullen on the subway platform the night that her "visions" began. She further suppressed the memory of catching him off guard afterwards and killing him in a fit of righteous rage. The buried memories are released in an avalanche of images after a brief stay at her parents' house triggers a sudden recollection of sexual abuse from her father many years ago.

There is a plot device employing the use of a young girl whom Isabel befriends who, it is finally revealed, is almost as imaginary as her "angels". The girl is revealed to be Isabel as a child. She disappears from the pew in the church as Isabel prays for the strength to accept what has happened.

Development

On September 6, 2014, it was announced that Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas would star in the movie Daughter of God. While Reeves and Robin Gurland would be producers of the film. On November 7, Remark Films was boarded on its first project to co-finance the film, which Daniel Grodnik is backing the Remark. On November 8, Mira Sorvino joined the film. The other cast include Christopher McDonald, Big Daddy Kane, Michael Rispoli, Laura Gómez. In December 2014, Carlos José Alvarez was set to score the film.

Filming

Principal photography began in early November 2014 in New York City. On November 26, filming was taking place in Brooklyn.

Controversy

The original story was a surreal bi-lingual drama, reminiscent of Pan's Labyrinth and Irreversible, that focused on child sexual abuse, violence against women, mass incarceration, and police violence committed under the color of authority. However, the executives at Lionsgate Premiere thought they had been sold a Keanu Reeves cop-thriller. To increase the film's potential box office, during the editing process Lionsgate changed the story's focus to center on Reeves' character, and changed the film into a crime thriller. Gee Malik Linton is the director of the film, but is listed under the pseudonym of Declan Dale.

Reception

Exposed received negative reviews from film critics. It holds a 5% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 21 reviews, with a weighted average score of 3.1/10. On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 23 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a mixed review writing : "There are glimpses here and there of the film Exposed might have been, especially through the well-photographed upper Manhattan locations that provide a memorably gritty atmosphere. But anyone looking for a good Reeves thriller would be well advised to wait until John Wick 2."

Box Office

Although the film has earned only little more than $260.000 in worldwide theatrical box office, rental and purchase of its DVD/Blu-ray releases along with download of its digital video are cashing over $1.5 million.