| A smart and engaging cat-and-mouse thriller, Relay should be at the top of everyone’s watch lists who are up for a suspenseful (but not scary) thriller. Led by an enigmatic Riz Ahmed and an intelligent, scared but determined Lily James, the performances and the city of New York are all that is needed to create the compelling atmosphere. The somewhat slow beginning is not a hindrance because there is so much for the audience to figure out. | | 2024
Directed by: David Mackenzie
Screenplay by: Justin Piasecki
Starring: Riz Ahmed, Lily James
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By the time the audience is comfortable with what’s happening, the film has turned the engines on and are hurtling towards the ending.
Relay is the short-form name of the Tri-State Relay Service, which is a fictional version of the real-life Telecommunications Relay Services which is a text-to-voice and vice versa transcription for the deaf and hard of hearing. What I love about its use in this movie is that it 1) highlights a real world service for people with hearing disabilities, 2) uses it as this somewhat cryptic, cold, anonymous way to communicate and 3) it’s not clear right away what Ash (Riz Ahmed)’s reliance on it is. So many turns in this movie are very smart and the relay service is at the top of the list, only fitting that it’s used as the title.
Ash, while revealing as little about what happens since spoilers will abound, is a fixer of sorts; he helps would-be whistleblowers get out of the grips of their ruthless corporations. Sarah (Lily James) is a young biochemist who is referred to him by way of a lawyer. She wants help returning documents she stole from her former employer who is lying about a drug they have coming up in the market. The corporation has hired thugs to stalk and physically harass her. So Ash walks her through a series of steps to stay ahead. This is most of the first half, and the audience usually doesn’t figure out the purpose for each step until after. It’s a smart movie that respects the audience’s intelligence as well.
There are very few cities where this type of story could take place. New York is one of the few, and the city is used perfectly to help build the frenzied, suspenseful atmosphere especially in the second half. Also aiding in the suspenseful atmosphere is Riz Ahmed’s character, he’s at first a very cold, independent person who does his job and that’s it. It’s enough to keep the audience drawn in, eventually, like everything else, his backstory starts getting revealed and by then the movie is already in full force. It’s a great way to give a complete character without having to slow down to do so.
The second half looks a lot more like a typical action-thriller, with a few different twists. One main twist that I don’t necessarily like, but I never saw it coming, so they successfully tricked me. I always felt this movie could and should have been a major box office player, it has mainstream appeal. While it’s unfortunate word of mouth never built up, the one advantage is that it hasn’t been spoiled - everyone can go blind.
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