Keanu is what attracted me to watch this, and it definitely turned out differently than what I expected from the trailer. What mostly springs out is the really poor editing. Afterwards I found out that the final result was also not much to what it should have been like. All-in-all I enjoyed it, and wished the director would have been allowed a free hand with it. At times I could see an underlying quality, especially to how the film was shot. The actors put in a decent effort too. It's far from original, Keanu is not bad although misused, but Ana de Armas was definitely a pleasant surprise. I liked the reveal, and if it just wasn't so choppy, there could've been more to this film.

C+

Exposed is a studio-assembled product, a heavily condensed and reorganized creation put together from fragments of a longer and more intricate film titled Daughter of God. As a result, writer and director Gee Malik Linton disowned the film and is credited under a pseudonym ("Declan Dale"). And signs of the tampering are not only visible, but dramatic: this is a veritable potpourri of ideas, subplots, tones, and visuals, often tantalizing as they clash with one another or are introduced and then rapidly forgotten. On the surface, the film is dual-pronged: one half concerns a dour detective (Keanu Reeves) investigating the murder of his unscrupulous partner in a subway station, and the other a highly religious Dominican teacher (Ana de Armas) having visions of what she believes to be angels. But even within these two stories, there are tangential diversions galore. The film never coheres into a cogent whole, and I suspect certain problems would remain even in the director's intended cut (including a certain pop-psychology insincerity in dramatizing post-sexual-assault trauma), but I cannot bring myself to entirely hate this strange failure, either. It is moodily shot on location in Manhattan and features many fascinating details: those "angels," for example, are striking, S&M-esque albino specters. The film in general has a persuasive air of despondency and dread, and this connects even when the story confuses and frustrates. And the gorgeous De Armas delivers a committed and vulnerable performance, the subtle strength of which shines through the post-production sabotage.

C

Exposed

The film had two title cards, second of which was "Daughter of God".

Well, this is quite a bore. And half of the film is in Spanish, which I had no subtitles for. It is a strange effort. Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas share a brief few seconds of screen-time, but otherwise they are on different paths. Keanu is much more in his wheelhouse here, playing a stoic, hard, but utterly useless New York cop. Ana is wasted. Sure, she turns in a good performance, but she does not utter one word of English, and despite being a little sexpot, she doesn't show any skin either. The film is slow, and quite uninteresting, which is usual for DTV/VOD releases, but this felt muddled and aimless. The Asian "angel" that Ana de Armas' character keeps seeing is utterly chilling, but that seems to be the film's only triumph, and it's not a horror film, so it's a weird, inconsequential victory.

D+

Incoherent and boring movie that fails to connect its two stories. Keanu Reeves' part is completely useless but he was possibly the right choice for this role. Ana De Armas delivers a great performance and she carries the movie well here. The finale was surprisingly decent which made me believe that there was a better movie out here though I do not think a Director's Cut from Gee Malik Linton will totally fix this movie. The design of those angels were great and the movie maintains a good atmosphere as well with some decent cinematography but overall the story is not told well.

C-