The film stars Naomie Harris, Tyrese Gibson, Frank Grillo, Mike Colter, Reid Scott, and Beau Knapp.

Their beat includes the deprived neighbourhood where West grew up, and during one patrol, she meets an old friend, Milo "Mouse" Jackson, who now is a convenience store clerk.

To let Jennings have a date night with his wife, West offers to cover his double shift with patrolman Deacon "Deek" Brown.

She stumbles on Brown and narcotics detectives Terry Malone and Smitty executing three unarmed drug pushers in cold blood.

Malone attempts to explain the incriminating situation, but Smitty panics after seeing West's bodycam and shoots her multiple times.

Her bulletproof vest catches the rounds but the aftershock from the impact sends West backward onto a section of weak flooring and she plummets several stories, landing on a garbage patch.

West, realizing that he intends to set her up, punches him, hits her pursuers with Jenning's pick up and leaves him handcuffed to the steering wheel.

In August 2017, it was announced Screen Gems had acquired Peter A. Dowling's spec script Exposure, and Sean Sorensen would produce the film under his Royal Viking Entertainment banner.

[5] In January 2019, Frank Grillo, Reid Scott, Tyrese Gibson, Beau Knapp, Mike Colter and Nafessa Williams joined the cast of the film.

[15] In the United States and Canada, Black and Blue was released alongside The Current War and Countdown, and was projected to gross $8–11 million from 2,062 theaters in its opening weekend.

It went on to debut to $8.3 million, finishing sixth; social media monitor RelishMix said the low figure was blamed on audiences being "bored with this type of cop thriller".

The website's consensus reads: "Black and Blue is elevated by Naomie Harris' central performance, even if the end result suffers from a simplistic treatment of topical themes.

Candice Frederick of TheWrap wrote, "Black and Blue is chock-full of heart-pounding car chases and suspenseful moments that are certain to entertain mainstream audiences, but the film falters when it attempts, beyond its title, to reflect a necessary and under-discussed conversation about societal issues.