Expo is a 2019 crime drama about a man with only three days to prove his innocence, forced to take one last job and save his client’s kidnapped daughter.
It’s all in the timing for former military man Richard (Derek Davenport), who is enjoying freedom after a brief stint in jail, trying to reconnect with his teen daughter Sarah (Amelia Haberman) and keep a steady job while exploring a new relationship with his girlfriend (Amber Thompson). He works as a driver for a high end service, but when he’s meant to pick up Lyla Swift (Hayley Vrana), the daughter of a client, Sarah calls for a ride, putting Richard a few minutes off schedule. Unfortunately, that’s just enough time for some thugs to come along and kidnap the Lyla, tossing her into a van and into the hands of a lunatic (Richard Lippert). Richard arrives too late and now cops pin the job on him, leaving the client to make a choice, have him locked up or go after the girl. Now it’s a race against time to save her and himself.
Writer and director Joseph Mbah isn’t working with much, his micro budget leaving him in tight corners that forces the story onto the characters, though the best thing going is the reworking of a familiar story. Men with haunted pasts in need of redemption are the cornerstone of a whole genre of movies and Mbah doesn’t stray far from the pack with Richard burdened by some real trauma, including a tough choice in the aftermath of some combat and now on his own, trying not to get into more trouble, which offers itself up with a friend who runs drugs. Into the mix comes an invitation to gather up young girls for sexual slavery, which puts our hero on the right side of very bad things as he struggles to right a few terrible wrongs.
It’s all very noble and earnest and made with good intentions, Mbah full of ideas, though the film is sporadic, jumping all over the place with numerous flashbacks cutting into one scene after another, often tripping up the pacing as it gets sort of hard to keep track of where Richard is and why, plot points jumbled into a collage of quick cuts that kind of barrel us forward but rarely strike with the impact intended. Certainly, much of this at its core is horrifying, especially anything that happens with Sarah, though the movie only is able to gloss over the implied violence and abuse, which is probably for the best. However, there is a detachment to the story that keeps it at arm’s length.
That’s partly due to the acting, which is at best flat, though there’s no doubt the cast commits. These characters are archetypes found in myriad other movies and as such, the actors do what they can to fill in the molds, though there’s little that feels authentic. Still, accepting the limitations the filmmakers are up against, there is credible effort in trying to give this some weight. That includes some action and choreography that are commendable. Fans of low budget beat ’em ups will find enough to hold them over.