Exposed

UK Release Date. 26 February 2016
Certification. 15
Running Time. 1 hour 42 mins
Director. Gee Malik Linton (as Declan Dale)
Cast. Ana de Armas, Keanu Reeves, Mira Sorvino, Gabriel Vargas.
Rating. 33%

Review.

With negligible prior knowledge, I happened upon Exposed. Billed as a crime thriller, featuring a bitter New York police detective investigating the truth behind his partner's death, little did I realise that I had stumbled upon one of the most frustratingly disjointed films in recent years. 

The original storyline written by Gee Malik Linton, and originally titled 'Daughter of God', was intended to be a surreal, supernatural, bi-lingual, female-centred piece focussing on child abuse, violence towards women and disturbing police violence. 'Daughter of God' revolved around a US-based Dominican family and the principal character, Isabel (Ana de Armas). Ana de Armas, a rare highlight in the film, is wholly believable as the young military spouse whose unwavering religious belief remains steadfast even when she begins to experience surreal visitations. 

However, in production studio executives at Lionsgate Premiere apparently re-edited the film to produce a more generic, mainstream police thriller, switching the spotlight to Keanu Reeves' original supporting character, Detective Scott Galban. 

Such was writer and director, Gee Malik Linton's displeasure with this development, he distanced himself from the re-edited, and re-named, Exposed. To the extent, that the Directors Guild of America allowed his name to be taken off the credits. Instead, the directorial credit is listed as the fictitious Declan Dale.

Sadly, the re-edited version is an incomprehensible, incoherent and unintelligible mess that was slated by critics and mainstream audiences, alike.