Hidden Exposure (2023) User Reviews

Second Chances in Life

[lavatch · 6/10 · 28 May 2023]

"Hidden Exposure" in a film about second chances in life, including how rare they occur and how we respond to them. Sabina Gesham's promising dance career appeared to be over after she tore her Achilles tendon and became involved in a committed relationship. But now, her second chance opportunity arrives with the offer to star in a major New York ballet production.

The man with whom Sabina is involved is named Ramsey Stranger. Ramsey is no stranger to trouble. After he blatantly lied to Sabina about his failed business dealings and ran up her credit card, he dumps her and begins a relationship with the Alvy, the daughter of a wealthy entrepreneur. And yet, he cravenly returns to Sabina long enough to impregnate her. Ramsey certainly made quick work of his second chance.

Clearly, Sabina's heart was not into seizing the moment to train for the role of a lifetime. Instead, she oddly decides to travel to upstate New York to confront Ramsey. While there, she bonds with Alvy, but chooses not to warn her about the fickle and abusive Ramsey.

The film was sad and even depressing in the missed opportunity of Sabina to follow her dream. And the fairy-tale allegory of the film never quite made sense. The filmmakers became overly "arty" in the ambiguous and unsatisfactory ending. The performances and photography were excellent. But a golden opportunity was missed to explore the special phenomenon of second chances in life. Rest in peace, Sabina Ramsey.

Hidden

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 24 May 2023]

Sabina Geshem (Liana Liberato, Scream VI) is a dance teacher who once had her own dreams of dancing on Broadway. But that was before the injury and before she got serious with Ramsay Stranger (Jordan Rodrigues), whose business is struggling and who seems like absolutely the worst person for her to pin her hopes and dreams on. When she brings up that he opened another credit card in her name, just as she's paid off the last one, he makes it her fault.

He assures her that if he can just have a good meeting with Randall Abbott (Richard Kind, who seems like a big star for a Tubi original), all their problems will disappear.

No, that's exactly where they'll start.

Randall could care less about Ramsay's virus solution. Yet their meeting ends up introducing him to the businessman's daughter Alvy (Rumer Willis) and yes, Ramsay has a type: pale redheads. He starts spending time with his new love interest while continually demoralizing his old one.

There may be hope yet. An old dancing friend named Celine (Stef Dawson, Annie Cresta from The Hunger Games series) who is just getting past cancer learns that Eva Graf Schierling (Lara Wolf) is taking over as the director of dance and she's been asking where Sabina has been. The opportunity for her to become a dancer on the biggest stage there is still exists.

Ramsay responds to this by telling her that she keeps making the same mistakes, that she's setting herself up to be a failure and that he wants nothing to do with her any longer. He disappears from her life, which allows her to put her energy into dancing and finally concentrate on herself.

That is, until Celina takes her to a party and she runs into Ramsay, who easily gets her back for a night.

He laughs when she thinks they're getting back together and explains that he has a whole new life. She decides to see what that life is all about in upstate New York. It's gorgeous. The people are kind. And no one is kinder to her than Alvy, who is nothing like the thieving force of evil that she expected.

The real problem? Alvy is pregnant. And so is Sabina.

Directed by Todd Bogin, who wrote the screenplay with Omali Jeffers and Frederic J. A. Richter, I really appreciated that this movie strayed from the psycho ex-girlfriend formula to present an ending that is tragic and quite sad. The film looks great, thanks to cinematographer Barbie Leung, who finds great lighting, deep colors and intriguing angles that keep the otherwise seen it before story seeming fresh and vital.

Great actors, lame ending!

[Mickey-62439 · 3/10 · 16 June 2023]

I assumed this would be like all the other psycho ex movies but it wasn't, which was a good thing but the ending just ruined the entire, well, everything about the movie! There should have been some sort of confrontation between Sabine and Averly. By confrontation I mean that the two at least talk about why Sabine came up there and built a relationship with her. They could have actually made it a beautifully twisted understanding or given an intense scene between them as the movie hinted that something like that was going to happen... Basically this movie had potential for various reasons but the ending is one of those that leave you totally annoyed that you just wasted an hour and a half of your life. The ending didn't even give a hint as too what Averly was doing once she found out she was buried in their yard. Okay well I guess it did by the fact that the fire she made to make smores with was raging in height in the pouring rain - she was destroying evidence. But not knowing why is extremely irritating. Was she so pissed at Sabine for falsifying a friendship with her that she just didn't care she was dead? Or was she sad that she didn't get a chance for everything to have come out into the open so they could work through it? How did she even feel about him at that point, did she help hide evidence because she loved him or just so the father of her child wouldn't go to prison? I mean it was just a really really crap ending that gave no satisfaction for the hint the movie kept givihg you that something was going to go down and left you with way too many questions. Also the stabbing scene was so quick and not from a clear angle that I had to rewind like three times to try to figure out if she stabbed herself or he did by accident / on purpose?! Honestly I'm still not 100% positive I figured it out, although I am all loopy from cold medicine. Great acting, beautiful cinematography, nice slow thriller burn to pull you in but again this movie was ruined by the ending. It had so much potential, they could have gone a few different ways and made it great. Lastly why advertise it as a scary psycho ex girlfriend movie if the ex literally does nothing "psycho", just kinda mental because she was so emotionally upset she passed up a chance to fulfill her dream AND she was likable in the way that she was actually nice and relatable to Averly?!

Well..

[ts-0000 · 26 May 2023]

Once you get past.. I can't put my finger exactly on it perhaps it's the low-quality feel,you find yourself rather(kind of)enjoying it.

Will this win any grand awards? Probably not.

It has plot holes,clichés & have seen similar storylines better.

But will say.. Didn't see a few parts coming,but wasn't compelling enough to save it either.

Had one of those artsy(cough)I wasted my time watching this endings,that make you upset.. Sure it can leave things to the viewers interpretation,but feel that's just lazy on the writers/directors part.

My ending interpretations? (May contain spoilers)

1. Alvy was burning evidence found in the jacket,no doubt covered back up the body she discovered after the dog uncovered it & basically went about life.

2. Alvy confronts him,he loses everything & she raises the baby... but feeling the above version is closer,after all people act dumb in relationships.

Also when the motel guy found the letter,what did it say & did it affect anything in the aftermath?

Locations & scenery in a few spots,was nice but cinematography felt blah or lackluster.

It was cast decent enough & acting well.. average,but have seen worse.

Notice Rumer for the most part gets not real great films,but feeling despite who her parents are is because she's not a brillant actress.

Is this worth seeing? If you're bored or like any actors.

Left with Only Rain

[tgbldkam · 7/10 · 26 May 2023]

When I first heard the premise of the film, I thought it was another psycho ex girlfriend movie. I was wrong. It is about toxic relationships. How the toxicity can be harmful to all involved.

However this was not a perfect movie but yet it is one of those movies that draws the viewer in.

The plot: Sabina (Liana Liberato) is in a relationship with Ramsay (Jordan Rodrigues) who is a struggling "business man" and sponging off his girlfriend.

So he meets a wealthy business man whose rebuffs Ramsay's virus protection idea. However he meets the wealthy guys daughter, Alvy(Rumer Willis)

So he see's Alvy on the side and eventually dumps Sabina (after putting her down) and hooks up with Alvy. He get's Alvy pregnant.

In a little plot twist, he briefly cheats on Alvy with Sabina and ends up getting Sabina pregnant.

So.... Sabina goes to the town Alvy lives and owns a business. She befriends Alvy.

My breakdown:

The Good:

The acting. All involved were good.

A character focus movie.

The handling of the storyline. This type of story has been told countless times but I thought the actors and the director did a good job with it.

The Ending: It's an open ending. Alvy found the photos and knows Sabina is dead. The Inn Keeper delivery's Sabina's letter to Alvy's house . What did Sabina wrote? Will Alvy read it? What will Alvy do?

I don't mind open endings. Sometimes, its better to leave it up the viewer to decide what the out come is.

The Bad:

The dialogue: There were moments the dialogue was a little off.

The moment of convenience: the dog running up the fire pit as Alvy discovers the photos of Sabina and Ramsay in his jacket pocket. The dog digs a hole uncovering Sabina's body.

The Jacket: When visiting Alvy and Ramsey's home, Sabina takes his jacket. Ramsay never noticed it missing. When she brings it back near the end, he doesn't make a fuss that she took his jacket.

The Ugly:

The Inn Keeper: I think he was supposed to be comedy relief however he came across as creepy.

The name change. The original title was Left with Only Rain. I think the name was change to draw more viewers (click bait)

The movie is listed as a thriller/horror. It is not. This just a regular melodrama.

This reminds me of an early 1960's French art house film.

Overall: If you are tired of big budget blockbusters and CGI induced madness, this movie is for you.

VIEWS ON FILM review of Hidden Exposure

[burlesonjesse5 · 7/10 · 3 June 2023]

If you don't pay attention to the trouper appearances in 2023's Hidden Exposure, well you'll probably not notice that Rumer Willis is in it (that would be the daughter of Bruce Willis). Rumer goes almost unrecognizable till you catch the closing credits and see her name. I suppose it's the red-colored hairstyle.

Anyway, Hidden Exposure is an effective thriller drama that's a little quiet on the thrills yet inching on the drama. Directed with a certain glow by the unknown Todd Bogin, "Exposure" avoids the notion of obviousness and never gives the viewer TMI. I say the film is better for it. Hidden Exposure is not Hitchcockian nor is it noir, it's just that it doesn't um, let you see the wheels turning in its head. "I felt like I was being pulled to the edge". Exactly.

Bogin shooting "Exposure" with darkened cinematography, flashbacks, and a sort of non-linear narrative, always gives you the feeling that something dangerous is around the corner. I mean you can tell that he saw Woody Allen's Match Point and decided to spruce his pic up a bit. You could also tell that he took in a viewing of 2010's Black Swan and said, "well I'll try to make something similar but I'll eschew the hallucinatory imagery". Hey I don't mind if a filmmaker apes other stuff as long as he (or she) makes it their own (and Todd does).

Distributed by Tubi and clocking in at a well-rounded 89 minutes, Hidden Exposure is about a dude who impregnates his current girlfriend and then by chance encounter, impregnates his ex. Guess what, his ex finds out where he currently lives and tries to re-enter his life angrily and without sense of measure. No this isn't Lifetime network stuff for it's much more pristine than that. The actors involved (Liana Liberato, Willis, Richard Kind, Jordan Rodrigues) give well-timed performances with you not fully knowing their motivations (in this case, that's a good thing). Heck, the whole crux of Hidden Exposure is decoding with an ending that is left for exegesis (a movie inclination that's as old as time). Pulp "exposure".

Ending sucks

[bev-60847 · 8/10 · 31 May 2023]

We really enjoyed this movie. The female cast were perfect for their roles. The main male character was pretty weak. Storyline was good and exciting. The only disappointment was the ending. Why do the writers think it is better to leave you guessing about the ending. This was the first movie I have watched Rumer Willis in and enjoyed her in this roll. Liana Liberato was also very good. The story was easy to follow. The best part was sound. Most movies today have the music so loud that you need to mute it then turn it to the maximum to hear them speaking (and in most cases whispering.) Overall a good movie minus the ending.

She could have ended it sooner

[phuckracistgop · 7/10 · 16 March 2024]

Pretty decent thriller, but the ending wasn't the best, also she could have just let the girl know from the get go that she was pregnant with his child instead of all that running around.

I am assuming that the new girlfriend contact the police once she realized that he had buried her body in the backyard, so I am also taking the thunder storm at the end represented the ending of his charade and he would be picked up by the police once he reached new York city.

Because she definitely wasn't psycho, but I thought that she had grabbed the knife and somehow ended up stabbing herself in the stomach.

Good movie but weak ending.

Methodically Twisted And Tragic Love Relationships With An Interesting Ending

[Blee1115 · 10/10 · 26 May 2023]

A crazy and tragic love relationship story line that gets you really contemplating what will happen after the end of the movie. Love how the characters develop throughout the film. Performances by Liana Liberato, Jordan Rodrigues, Rumor Willis, Richard Kind, and Stef Dawson were top notch. Well written story line. Cinematographer Barbie Leung use of lighting and colors contributed to the aura and beauty of the film. First full length film directed and written by Todd Bogin. Can't wait to see what projects he will do next. Make a bowl of popcorn and sit back and enjoy trying to figure out the ending.

Great thriller

[rjr-81267 · 10/10 · 20 June 2023]

Started slow but builds into a suspenseful thriller with an Alfred Hitchcock twist.

Great acting and not a typical jilted lover story.

I almost didn't keep watching as it started slow but really glad I did because after the first scenes that set up the story it had my full attention. I didn't see the ending coming and I loved how it got you really thinking. Great date movie as it generated a lot of discussion. Really glad to find such a good movie on free streaming tubi. Better than a lot of the movies on not free Netflix. There were a few commercials but not bad and it being free made up for that.

Highly recommend this.

Hard to guess the ending, love mysteries like that

[Ashi_Ip · 10/10 · 25 May 2023]

Love gone wrong. This is a great psychological thriller with a unique ending. It will keep you thinking. Interesting characters and a good portrayal of being emotionally trapped in a relationship with someone who is emotionally abusive. The moth to the flame. The film brings out strong emotions and builds to the very interesting ending. I love the way the characters are developed, you find yourself loving a few and hating a few. The character development really adds to the story and the way it ends. I didn't find it too gory but it was psychologically chilling. Highly recommend it, but not for young children.

Haneke in a New York setting

[wzqry · 10/10 · 27 May 2023]

I had a great time watching this film. It reminded me of classic French cinema a la Michael Haneke, just in a New York setting.

The main female character played with my deepest fears regarding psycho ex girlfriends and I loved that. The viewer is left torn about whether to feel sympathetic for her or hate her for making all the wrong life choices. I have come across many girls like her, but never have I watched a movie which portrayed that type of character so well.

I didn't quite understand why the two girls fancied the guy so much, but I am still giving this movie 10 stars.

Overall, great story, cast and directing.

Great dramatic thriller

[jhrcrc · 10/10 · 20 June 2023]

Highly recommended. Slow start, building parallel storylines into a thriller. The writer and director, Todd Bogin, crafted a drama most could identify with. Parallel storylines are of a ballerina returning to her calling and a boyfriend with other interests. Relationships ebb and flow. We don't know how reliable and honest they are at any point.

The great actors made us believe, kept us engrossed in the story. As the excitement built, we were discussing the possibilities amongst ourselves. We loved that the author allows us to follow his guidance but also consider choosing the ending we believe in.

Definitely worth watching.

Lingers in the mind: highly recommended!

[Jofeta · 10/10 · 8 June 2023]

"Hidden Exposure" takes on an engaging cinematic experience, immersing you in its thought-provoking storytelling. Under the skillful direction of Todd Bogin, I found myself captivated by the narrative, constantly pondering the unpredictable path of tension. The shocking climactic ending left me with chills.

The performances in "Hidden Exposure" were commendable, with each actor delivering solid portrayals of their characters. Their authenticity and depth added a layer of realism, drawing you deeper into the story. Cinematographer Barbie Leung's work was visually impressive, capturing pivotal moments with finesse and imbuing the film with a captivating visual allure.

Vivien Villani's score set a mysterious yet distinct tinted colorful tone to the film. It complemented the narrative, adding an additional layer of intrigue and enhancing the overall atmospheric experience.

Throughout the journey, I found myself fully immersed in its narrative world. This film provides a solid blend of drama and introspection, striking a balance between moments of tension and reflection. Highly recommended!