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Exposed (originally titled Daughter of God) is a 2016 American crime drama thriller film, starring Keanu Reeves, Ana de Armas, Mira Sorvino and Christopher McDonald. Directed by Gee Malik Linton (under the pseudonym of Declan Dale), the plot concerns a detective, Scott Galban (Reeves) who is assigned to investigate the mysterious murder of his partner, New York City cop Joey Cullen (Danny Hoch).
When his partner is stabbed and murdered in the New York City subway, experienced detective Scott Galban is assigned to the case. Unbeknownst to him, the case would reveal itself to be far more complicated than what appearances may suggest. When is uncovered the fact that Joey Cullen was corrupt, the rottenness inside the NYPD is threatened to be exposed, in an environment of illicit ordeals where literally everyone can be compromised. Even Scott Galban, who is having an illicit affair with Cullen’s wife, Janine (Sorvino) reveals himself to be an ambiguous person. Nonetheless, Galban is not as corrupt as the others, and is exceedingly determined to discover what really happened to his former partner, willing to go to excruciating extremes, no matter how compromising this can be for the New York City Police Department.
Galban eventually discovers a potential witness to the case, a young Hispanic girl, Isabel de La Cruz (Ana de Armas). As the movie follows two apparently unrelated plot devices, one is showing Scott Galban on his extensive investigation to find the truth, while the other shows the Hispanic girl apparently losing her quest on sanity. She begins to have strange visions, and all of a sudden, discovers that she is pregnant. Meanwhile, what we see is the picture of a very quiet and seemingly normal girl. Isabel is a teacher, that loves all the children in her class, and her family life seems to be happy, satisfying and fulfilling. Her soon to be husband is far away, apparently serving in the army somewhere in the Middle East, but he communicates regularly with the entire family via webcam. Her family is a very religious one. Isabel herself is an ardent catholic believer. Nonetheless, her family is terrifyingly shocked when she tells them that she is pregnant. Knowing that her fiancé cannot be the father, given the fact that he has been far away for too long, all of them become extremely disappointed with her. And when she says that she had been impregnated by the Holy Spirit, like Mary, mother of Jesus, they become even more distressed and disdainful. But the surprise seems to be the fact that Isabel herself deeply believes what she is telling to her family.
When his partner is stabbed and murdered in the New York City subway, experienced detective Scott Galban is assigned to the case. Unbeknownst to him, the case would reveal itself to be far more complicated than what appearances may suggest. When is uncovered the fact that Joey Cullen was corrupt, the rottenness inside the NYPD is threatened to be exposed, in an environment of illicit ordeals where literally everyone can be compromised. Even Scott Galban, who is having an illicit affair with Cullen’s wife, Janine (Sorvino) reveals himself to be an ambiguous person. Nonetheless, Galban is not as corrupt as the others, and is exceedingly determined to discover what really happened to his former partner, willing to go to excruciating extremes, no matter how compromising this can be for the New York City Police Department.
Galban eventually discovers a potential witness to the case, a young Hispanic girl, Isabel de La Cruz (Ana de Armas). As the movie follows two apparently unrelated plot devices, one is showing Scott Galban on his extensive investigation to find the truth, while the other shows the Hispanic girl apparently losing her quest on sanity. She begins to have strange visions, and all of a sudden, discovers that she is pregnant. Meanwhile, what we see is the picture of a very quiet and seemingly normal girl. Isabel is a teacher, that loves all the children in her class, and her family life seems to be happy, satisfying and fulfilling. Her soon to be husband is far away, apparently serving in the army somewhere in the Middle East, but he communicates regularly with the entire family via webcam. Her family is a very religious one. Isabel herself is an ardent catholic believer. Nonetheless, her family is terrifyingly shocked when she tells them that she is pregnant. Knowing that her fiancé cannot be the father, given the fact that he has been far away for too long, all of them become extremely disappointed with her. And when she says that she had been impregnated by the Holy Spirit, like Mary, mother of Jesus, they become even more distressed and disdainful. But the surprise seems to be the fact that Isabel herself deeply believes what she is telling to her family.
Nonetheless, as Galban deepens into the underworld, unraveling the mystery that revolves around his former partner, his path and Isabel’s eventually converges. Dwelling deeper into the mystery, he eventually finds the terrible and excruciating truth about Joey Cullen and Isabel de La Cruz.
This is a very good movie, but you have to be patient to be contemplated by the good and exponentially pervasive nature of the story. I had to see the movie two times, to be fully aware of this, as you have to submerge yourself completely into the narrative, to be delighted by the subtle prerogatives of its plot. At first, the movie seems to be very tedious, and since Exposed it’s not the typical police procedural story, you don’t have a lot of action. Focusing on human drama and police bureaucracy – although one of the plot devices really has detective Scott Galban investigating the mystery behind his partner’s death –, if you really want an action movie, this is not the case. With a slower pace, a dark and drastic storyline, and a cohesive plot centered in an urban setting that unravels towards the idiosyncrasies of human behavior and the alienation of police corruption, Exposed is far more about the exhilaration of human malevolent impulses, and how this affects a person that becomes victim of the evil present in the human nature.
This is a very good movie, but you have to be patient to be contemplated by the good and exponentially pervasive nature of the story. I had to see the movie two times, to be fully aware of this, as you have to submerge yourself completely into the narrative, to be delighted by the subtle prerogatives of its plot. At first, the movie seems to be very tedious, and since Exposed it’s not the typical police procedural story, you don’t have a lot of action. Focusing on human drama and police bureaucracy – although one of the plot devices really has detective Scott Galban investigating the mystery behind his partner’s death –, if you really want an action movie, this is not the case. With a slower pace, a dark and drastic storyline, and a cohesive plot centered in an urban setting that unravels towards the idiosyncrasies of human behavior and the alienation of police corruption, Exposed is far more about the exhilaration of human malevolent impulses, and how this affects a person that becomes victim of the evil present in the human nature.
While this is not a marvelous movie, it’s a very good one. But like I wrote some lines above, you have to be very attentive to the storyline, otherwise you will be definitely bored. As the length and the calmness upon which the story is told, fulfilled by sideline details and a non-conventional style of storytelling, that implicates a more humanistic approach – opposed as being just another investigative story backed by a fully police guided crime thriller – Exposed can be considered an interesting and refreshing cinematic experience, full of intriguing nuances, perspectives and expectations. And I really mean this: I thought the movie was pretty mediocre the first time I saw it, but the second time, as I dwelled deeper into the story, I really understood better the grievances of the characters, the reflexive hardline of the story and the poetic, sometimes hazy and melancholic appeal of its plot. And I am seriously considering watching this movie a third time.
The end of the movie can be surprising as well, but this seriously depends on the spectator, and the capacity one has to judge and imagine or consider what is really happening. While it’s not something too difficult to decipher, on the other hand, it is not that obvious either.
Exposed had some problems in the post-production. Apparently, executives of the studio diverged on several questions. The original plot was, accordingly, far more complex than the final product, but movie executives wanted to highlight Reeves presence in the movie, since his character, at first, was just one tool for the story frame, and not the epicenter of it. Since the studio made significant changes in the editing process, director Gee Malik Linton asked his name to be completely erased from the project, so a pseudonym, Declan Dale, features in the directing credits.
Wagner
The end of the movie can be surprising as well, but this seriously depends on the spectator, and the capacity one has to judge and imagine or consider what is really happening. While it’s not something too difficult to decipher, on the other hand, it is not that obvious either.
Exposed had some problems in the post-production. Apparently, executives of the studio diverged on several questions. The original plot was, accordingly, far more complex than the final product, but movie executives wanted to highlight Reeves presence in the movie, since his character, at first, was just one tool for the story frame, and not the epicenter of it. Since the studio made significant changes in the editing process, director Gee Malik Linton asked his name to be completely erased from the project, so a pseudonym, Declan Dale, features in the directing credits.
Wagner
