Honestly, most people think the Ana de Armas and Keanu Reeves movie connection started with Ballerina. It makes sense, right? You’ve got the massive John Wick machine, the high-octane stunts, and those trailers showing Keanu sliding back into the black suit to mentor a new generation of Ruska Roma assassins. But if you think Ballerina was their first time on set together, you're actually missing about ten years of history.
These two have a surprisingly weird, messy, and fascinating track record that predates the Continental Hotel by a long shot.
Before she was an Oscar nominee or a Bond girl who stole the show in ten minutes, Ana de Armas was a newcomer in Hollywood who barely spoke English. And the guy who was there for her first big English-speaking role? Keanu Reeves. They’ve actually shared the screen in three very different films, and the first two are nothing like the polished "Gun-Fu" we've come to expect from the Wick-verse.
The Viral Chaos of Knock Knock (2015)
The first Ana de Armas and Keanu Reeves movie was a 2015 erotic thriller called Knock Knock. It was directed by Eli Roth, the guy known for Hostel, so you already know it wasn't going to be a quiet night at the theater.
The premise is basically every married man's nightmare. Keanu plays Evan, a devoted husband and architect who stays home alone for a weekend while his wife and kids go to the beach. During a massive rainstorm, two stranded young women—played by Ana de Armas (Bel) and Lorenza Izzo (Genesis)—knock on his door. They look like they just need a phone and a towel.
Things go south fast.
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What starts as a "kind gesture" turns into a psychological and physical gauntlet. The movie is famous (or infamous) for a scene where Keanu screams about "free pizza" while being tied up. It's campy, it’s uncomfortable, and it’s a far cry from the stoic John Wick. For Ana de Armas, this was a massive deal. She actually had to learn her lines phonetically because her English wasn't quite there yet.
If you watch it now, you can see the raw charisma that would later make her a superstar. She plays "Bel" with this terrifying, wide-eyed unpredictability. Critics didn't exactly love it—it sits at a 37% on Rotten Tomatoes—but it’s become a bit of a cult classic for people who love watching Keanu go absolutely off the rails.
The Movie That Almost Didn’t Exist: Exposed (2016)
Just a year later, the pair teamed up again for a film called Exposed. This one is a bit of a tragedy in terms of film history. Originally titled Daughter of God, it was supposed to be a surreal, bilingual drama about a young woman (Ana) having mystical visions and a detective (Keanu) investigating his partner's death.
The studio, Lionsgate, reportedly panicked.
They saw they had "the guy from John Wick" and tried to edit the movie into a standard police thriller. They cut a huge portion of Ana de Armas’s storyline to give Keanu more screen time. The director, Gee Malik Linton, was so unhappy with the final cut that he took his name off the project, using the pseudonym "Declan Dale" instead.
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The result? A movie that feels like two different films fighting for your attention. You’ve got Ana de Armas doing some genuinely beautiful, emotional work in a magical-realism story, and then it hard-cuts to Keanu looking grumpy in a gray suit. It bombed hard. It currently holds a brutal 8% on Rotten Tomatoes.
It’s a shame, really. If you look past the messy editing, you can see the seeds of a much better Ana de Armas and Keanu Reeves movie that we just never got to see in its original form.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)
Finally, we get to the one everyone is talking about. Ballerina (or From the World of John Wick: Ballerina) is the movie that feels like the "right" collaboration. Released in June 2025, it bridges the gap between John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and Chapter 4.
This time, the power dynamic has shifted. Ana de Armas is the lead, playing Eve Macarro. She’s not a victim or a seductress; she’s a lethal product of the Ruska Roma school of "dance and death." Keanu returns as John Wick, but he’s not the main focus. He’s more like a ghost from the future, offering advice to Eve as she hunts down the people who murdered her father.
Why Ballerina Actually Works
- The Timeline: It’s set during the events of Chapter 3, so we get to see John Wick while he’s still very much in the middle of his own war with the High Table.
- The Stunts: Ana de Armas reportedly did months of "brutal" training. She’s using ice skates as weapons and taking down rooms full of guys in ways that feel uniquely hers, not just a female version of Wick.
- The Cast: You’ve got the late, great Lance Reddick in one of his final appearances as Charon, plus Ian McShane returning as Winston. It feels like home for fans of the franchise.
The reception for this Ana de Armas and Keanu Reeves movie has been way better than their previous outings. It debuted with a solid 72% critics score and a massive 93% from audiences. People finally get to see these two together in a project that actually knows what to do with their specific types of screen presence.
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The Friendship Behind the Camera
What’s cool is that despite the first two movies being "flops" in the traditional sense, they forged a real-life bond. Ana de Armas has spoken in interviews about how kind Keanu was when she first arrived in L.A. He was essentially a mentor to her during the Knock Knock days, helping her navigate a massive industry while she was still learning the language.
When it came time to cast Ballerina, that history mattered. There’s a natural chemistry there. When John Wick tells Eve Macarro that her path of vengeance will cost her everything, it carries more weight because we’ve seen these two together for a decade.
What You Should Watch Next
If you're looking for the best Ana de Armas and Keanu Reeves movie experience, you have to be picky.
- Watch Ballerina first. It’s the high-budget, high-stakes actioner that justifies the hype. It’s slick, violent, and visually stunning.
- Watch Knock Knock if you’re in the mood for something weird. It’s not a "good" movie in the prestige sense, but it’s a wild ride and a fascinating look at Ana de Armas’s Hollywood beginnings.
- Skip Exposed unless you’re a completionist. It’s just too disjointed to be truly enjoyable, though Ana’s performance is a bright spot in a very dark, confusing room.
The evolution of their partnership mirrors Ana de Armas's own career. She went from the "mysterious girl at the door" to a detective's side plot, and finally to a world-class assassin standing eye-to-eye with the Baba Yaga himself. It’s a pretty incredible arc for two of Hollywood’s most Likable stars.
Now that you've got the full history, the next step is simple. Go back and re-watch the original John Wick: Chapter 3. Look for the brief scene at the Tarkovsky Theater where a ballerina is practicing on stage—that’s the character Ana de Armas eventually took over and made her own. It’s the best way to see how deep the "Wick-verse" roots actually go.