It’s been a long time since we’ve had a techno-conspiracy thriller, which makes Relay a welcome surprise.
The popularity of the sub genre has waned a great deal since the heights of the 60s and 70s (with a blip of a return in the 90s with titles like The Net and Enemy of the State). It’s something of a delight to see David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water)’s new film, which is both a throwback to its predecessors, while still managing to be a thoroughly modern take.
Relay opens with Sarah (Lily James) being rejected at a law firm in New York City. She’s looking for protection: she stole documents from a powerful company after discovering dangerous side effects in a new strain of crops, but now she’s being followed and harassed. Unlike the altruistic protagonists of other conspiracy thrillers, Sarah no longer wants to do the right thing; she wants to return the documents, keep quiet, and stay alive.
Enter Ash (Riz Ahmed), a mysterious figure who – in the opening scene – is seen helping Hoffman (Matthew Maher), another whistleblower, do just that. In Hoffman’s case, the hand off (the return of the documents, the picture with the corrupt CEO in a public place, and the escape on the train) all go off without a hitch. This bodes well for Sarah then, right?
Well…we wouldn’t have a movie if it did.
The joy of Relay is twofold: 1) the intricacy of watching Ash and Sarah evade and outsmart the elite team surveilling her and 2) the titular relay system that is used as a key form of communication and an absolutely fantastic piece of narrative storytelling.
Ash discovered a clever workaround to hide his identity and avoid being tracked: the tri-state relay – a call centre that verbally facilitates phone conversations between deaf clients and the people they need to talk to on the phone. He calls the relay, the operator forwards the call and speaks on his behalf while he types on a special keyboard that his phone is attached to. Not unlike Morse code, when each recipient is finished talking, they say the words “go ahead” so that conversation can continue.
Ash doesn’t identify as deaf, but he uses the relay because it is the perfect intermediary: they don’t track phone numbers, and they don’t keep a record of the call, so anonymity is preserved. One additional perk is that the operators act as Ash’s voice so even when he’s communicating with the baddies, they never hear his voice. It’s nearly fool proof.
Nearly being the operative word.
The film splits its runtime pretty evenly between Ash and Sarah with the majority of the narrative focusing on the steps required to reach a detente. Naturally this involves a large sum of money, the return of the documents, and a tight deadline.
The result is a cross between a kidnapping film and a heist movie, with Mackenzie and cinematographer Giles Nuttgens shooting innocuous scenes with the severity of a crisis negotiation. Relay is filled with phone calls, packages being mailed, covert plans being discussed, and clandestine late night meetings. It’s (surprisingly) high drama despite the fact that for long stretches there’s nothing more going on than simple planning.
As the cool-under-pressure mediator, Ahmed is wonderful. He has great empathy for his clients and – since this is a Hollywood film – possibly burgeoning romantic feelings for Sarah. It’s evident from the opening that Ash is good at his job because he is always calm, extremely detail oriented, and keenly aware of how high the stakes are. But despite focusing primarily on the details of the exchange, screenwriter Justin Piasecki and Ahmed finds small moments to imbue Ash with layers, principally through a (slight but effective) backstory that is revealed via AA meetings and conversations with his sponsor, Wash (Eisa Davis).
As Sarah, James arguably gets the least to do. The actress is required to look worried, exhausted and emotional and, in that capacity, James succeeds. When the actress is required to modulate her performance, however, the actress appears less comfortable in the role.
The other side of the equation is the operative team. As the leader, Dawson, Sam Worthington is suitably convincing as a smug heavy who isn’t used to not getting his way. Few of the other team members make much of an impression aside from Jared Abrahamson’s Ryan (he’s the most active) and Willa Fitzgerald’s Rosetti, who is always seen eating (shades of Brad Pitt’s Rusty in Ocean’s Eleven). This side of the film evokes the camaraderie of the surveillance team in Enemy of the State and it’s fun to see their reactions as they keep getting played by Ash, who constantly seems one step ahead.
If there is one glaring issue with the film, it is that Piasecki’s script is too eager to pile twist on top of twist in the final act. Relay builds to a satisfying, slightly melancholy climax that works perfectly as a send-off…then there’s an additional action-heavy 10 minute closer tacked-on. It’s not bad and, in the tried and true fashion of thrillers, it forces audiences to re-evaluate what they know about the characters and the plot. With that said, however, the new closing section is too drawn-out and quite derivative, which concludes the film on something of a shrug as opposed to a high.
It’s not a deal breaker, but these final minutes pale in comparison to all of the good that came before. Still, the finale’s misstep doesn’t take away from Ahmed’s performance, Mackenzie’s ability to create tension from what could mundane phone calls and conversations, or the exciting narrative novelty of the relay system. If conspiracy thrillers are your bag, Relay is a must-see. 4/5
Relay had its world premiere at TIFF 2024
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