Exploited (2022)(Review)

The the film Exploited (2022) a college freshman becomes obsessed with the previous owner of his school-issued laptop. Directed by Jon Abrahams , this film doesn’t deserve to just be thrown away. It piqued my interest and I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it’s a good film, but not so good as to have it in my collection. I’m not even going to recommend it to many people. But…

It was classified under LGBTQIA+ and Thriller. At no point was it classified as a comedy, even though I laughed out loud several times. It has to be said, though, that there’s dialogue like: “I’ve been hacked. I’m sorry! Why are you sorry? (She looks at the screen.) What? You filmed me having sex? What the hell is wrong with you???” Or the moment when a girl walks into a room, sees her boyfriend cheating on her with another guy and says, “So that’s what you wanted to tell me!!!” Anyway!

This film is considered to be a gay film and that’s where you see that everything is mixed up. Just because one couple is gay doesn’t mean the whole film is. After that, there’s everything that’s going to displease a wide audience: scenes of sex, masturbation, student campus parties, bloody murders and uncomfortable moments taking place online on the Internet. And that’s it! I’ll give you the lowdown so you know what you’re in for if you go.

It’s not bad, but it’s full of flaws. The film has a strong opening that creates curiosity to see what happened, and where the story will go. The acting is good, especially for this kind of film. I don’t think horror films are known for the quality of their acting or their script, in general. Or maybe they’re poorly directed.

There are so many holes in the film that it starts to become distracting and intriguing. Particularly in the last few minutes of the film, where the characters seem to come out of nowhere and have no reason to be in the same place. So, yes, the exploiter/hacker isn’t too hard to figure out. But the big reveal at the end is usurped by the previous scene where we think, “Oh, hell, who else could it be?” This ending becomes very interesting and reignites a series of questions, but it stops there. It’s as if there absolutely has to be a sequel. But given the success this film must have had, I think it’s a bit overdone.

There are characters who are there just to be there, like the redhead who greets you at the entrance to the campus. And people you’ve seen murdered, stabbed in the heart, magically reappear alive and well. Some situations are simply ridiculous, if only because of the characters involved. There are always these exaggerations, inconsistencies. You know, those filthy sounds of knives digging into flesh, blood dripping in a slimy way. There are those people who get hit hard on the head by a very hard object, but only have a small trickle of blood flowing. What’s more, they get right back up. There are people who have every reason in the world to hate each other, but who forgive each other easily. There’s a character you cling to, thinking she’s the only level-headed one, when she turns out to be a psychopath.

If you’ve got nothing else to do and want to watch a crime thriller of sorts, this is an option. By the way, this is not, as the summary suggests, about a first-year student who becomes obsessed with the former owner of the laptop given to him by the school. But how it came to be in his possession is another thing that is shown, but not really explained. Was it hidden in a drawer? Who put it there? Did it belong to the flatmate? Was it left in the room by last year’s occupant? From the outset, the premise isn’t really explained, even though I’m a stickler for detail. And there’s a lot missing…

My Rating