How do you stay concealed in a world that makes it nearly impossible to do so? How can you safely hide your identity at all times when all it takes is a partial photo of your face for the wrong person to learn more about you than you could imagine that they could ever know? These are all-too-real questions tackled by Relay, director David Mackenzie’s (Hell or High Water, Outlaw King) taut thriller. In a day and age in Hollywood where you can be anything, a typical moviegoer’s wish is for a film just to be original. That is what Mackenzie brings with this subtle, yet intense, character-driven whistleblower thriller, while also delivering the best twist of the year, one that will invite us to reexamine the movie’s entire timeline long after our viewing is complete.

Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal, Joyland) stars as Ash, a New Yorker who works out of his apartment for a company called Relay, which helps whistleblowers at companies from which they have stolen documents free themselves from the harassment and threats they receive from their former employers. Specifically, one of Ash’s skills is coordinating meetings between the whistleblower and a company’s CEO, where the original documents are returned to the company by the whistleblower in exchange for the harassment to cease. Basically, Ash’s clients reach a point where their personal safety is more important than whatever the misdeeds of their former employer.

Neither the whistleblower nor the harassing company will ever meet Ash, nor even know what he looks like. Ash keeps a single digital copy of each file, which he can use as leverage to keep the parties quiet, while also earning a hefty fee for his provided services. He conducts all of his business through a dedicated telecommunications relay service, one originally designed for individuals who are hard of hearing, DeafBlind, or those with a speech disability, to facilitate the placement and receipt of telephone calls. Specifically, Ash types his words using an analog keyboard and sends them to an operator at the intermediary Tri-State Relay Service, who then verbally relays the messages to both his client and the bullying company. It allows Ash to hide in plain sight, as these companies work to broker a non-disclosure deal to keep their ugly secrets from becoming exposed. The bigger the stakes. The bigger the price.

Whistleblower Sarah Grant (Lily James – Burnt, The Iron Claw) is Ash’s new client. She has stolen and threatened to go public with a damning report about the side effects of a new product that her employer, Cybo Sementis Research Institutes, is about to complete a $3.2 billion deal with, pending approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) within the coming days. The stolen report contains sensitive information detailing the side effects of her company’s product that is making its consumers sick.

Sarah is under 24/7 surveillance by a professional counterintelligence team of Dawson (Sam Worthington – Avatar, Everest), Rosetti (Willa Fitzgerald – Strange Darling, Desperation Road), Ryan (Jared Abrahamson – On the Count of Three, Asleep in My Palm), and Lee (Pun Bandhu – Can You Ever Forgive Me?) is hellbent on retrieving those stolen documents. Why do they seem to stop at harassment and intimidation, rather than abduction and physicality? They do set her car on fire, which serves as the trigger point for her to contact Relay.

Because Ash uses a technological service that is protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), all of his communications are deemed confidential. That, combined with the technology being untraceable, gives Ash a leg up over what his industry competitors might be able to offer, as well as the leverage that his competitors may have. Ash is the best at what he does and has a proven track record to back up his claims.

Much like films such as The Net, Enemy of the State, Cellular, and I, Robot, Relay may not hold up years from now. Films that, at the time of their release, felt either cutting-edge or had us in disbelief that such a future could exist, we are now living in a society where, through Artificial Intelligence (AI), it often becomes difficult to distinguish what’s real from what’s fake. AI can match all of our likeness, including our voices, facial expressions, body movements, and virtually every other aspect of our identity. If, 5-10 years ago, this was unimaginable, it’s hard to fathom the complexities of the world 5-10 years from now, especially in terms of privacy issues. For as powerful as AI is, the safeguards of protection are lacking, if not, in many ways, nonexistent.

Ahmed, who has been relatively quiet since his 2019 breakout performance in Sound of Metal. For many, Sound of Metal was their first exposure to Ahmed. Some, like myself, have been clamoring for his follow-up role ever since. Relay was worth the wait. Ahmed immerses himself in Ash, taking us with this likable, yet mysterious protagonist, the entire time. Ash is meticulous, tedious, and retrospective. He doesn’t take chances and is more than comfortable walking away from any situation that makes him feel uncomfortable. As we get to know Ash, we see a person who is intent on doing right by his clients, while also maintaining a safe distance. His even-keel temperament allows him to remain calm and in control, even during the more trying circumstances of his profession.

Complimenting Ahmed’s stellar performance was James’s portrayal of Sarah, a frightened yet brave employee who views a report filled with so many inaccuracies, misleads, and lies that she can’t ignore what she now knows. Drowning in anxiety and paranoia, she is led to Ash, putting her trust in someone she has never met and will never meet, and whose life-or-death instructions and directions are being relayed to her through a different human voice for each interaction. Sarah’s vulnerabilities become our vulnerabilities. We become Sarah as Raz’s real-time commands are relayed to her in a voice that’s not his.

A favorite part of the film (second only to the film’s brilliant twist) was its score. As you’d hope for with any successful edge-of-your-seat type of thriller, Relay had an incredible score, one that softly plays in the background far more frequently than it does not. It paced the movie perfectly, alternating between tense and dramatic, raising and lowering our anxieties from one scene to the next. It elevated a teetering B+ movie to an A-. It all felt purposeful, which is what I thought about all aspects of Mackenzie’s film, and it only holds some of its flimsier plot holes (such as the fact that none of the Relay operators offered any surprise or potential alert after learning of such detailed information that was being withheld from the public). However, those were few and far between, especially after reexamining what I thought would be tarnished scenes, only to now view them in a different, yet equally effective way. If anything, I am intrigued by the idea of watching the movie again.

Relay is a smart, tense thrill ride. It’s innovative in its approach and relation to technological advances, while still paying homage to many of the great political & whistleblower thrillers that came before it, such as The Firm, Three Days of the Condor, Snowden, Kill the Messenger, Dark Waters, and Breach. The most significant difference between those great films and Relay is its softer tone, humaneness, and commitment to linear storytelling through the eyes of its two protagonists.

Relay was a refreshing theatergoing experience, proving that there is still a home at the cinema for films that don’t revolve around remakes, reboots, sequels, superheroes, or big-budget action films.

Plot 7.5/10
Character Development 8.5/10
Character Chemistry 8/10
Acting 8/10
Screenplay 8.75/10
Directing 9.25/10
Cinematography 9.25/10
Sound 10/10
Hook and Reel 10/10
Universal Relevance 9/10
88.25%

A-

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