A broker of lucrative payoffs between corrupt corporations and the individuals who threaten them breaks his own rules when a new client seeks his protection to stay alive.
Chuck says:
Smart, well-acted and containing a narrative switchback I didn’t see coming, “Relay” from director David Mackenzie (“Hell or High Water”) is a pleasant surprise. This slow-burn mystery revolves around an intriguing premise that would have been right at home during the era of paranoid thrillers from the mid-1970’s. Hitchcockian in tone, the film is perfectly in tune with the social media moment we find ourselves in, the script by Justin Piasecki inverting our society’s reliance on all things electronic, his story featuring a protagonist that employs analog methods to subvert modern technology.
Ash (Riz Ahmed) is an intermediary who brokers deals with major corporations and those that would expose their nefarious practices. He serves as a middleman, contacting crooked CEOS to let them know he represents former employees who are in possession of sensitive material they are on the verge of sending to media outlets. For a large settlement, Ash will return the documents in question, take a small fee and pass the rest of the money on to the would-be whistleblower.
His latest client is Sarah (Lily James), a former employee for Cybo Sementis, a bio-tech firm on the verge of a multi-billion-dollar merger. The material in her possession, evidence of a cover-up involving one of their products that would cause great harm to consumers, would scuttle that deal in a heartbeat. Harassed and threatened, she turns to Ash to broker a settlement. Of immediate concern is Dawson (Sam Worthington) whose team has been hounding Sarah, setting her car on fire and making it evident they are willing to do much more to keep her silent.
Seeing how Ash operates is fascinating. He employs a relay service to communicate with his clients. Used by those who are hard of hearing, it allows those who call to type out their conversations which the person at the call center then reads to who is being communicated with. These calls cannot be traced and no records are kept. This allows Ash to cover his tracks, as does manipulation of post office delivery patterns which allow him to get hard copies of the sensitive documents and payments without being found out. Never quite sure what Ash is up to next, seeing each next step of these processes play out is intriguing throughout.
As to what makes our hero tick, Piasecki reveals Ash’s motivations through the Alcoholic Anonymous meetings he attends. Closed off and hesitant to share, what he reveals about his past provides logic for his actions. That he grows close to Sarah and tells her even more about his past allows us to relate to him even further, Ahmed bringing a quiet sense of pain and longing to the character that’s all the more effective thanks to his subtle approach.
James is very good as the damsel in distress, though she’s far from a victim. The actress subtly lets us know there’s much more at play where she’s concerned, her scenes with Ahmed revolving around more about what’s not said than what is. As for Worthington, he isn’t required to do much but still manages to provide a worthy antagonist. To his credit, he doesn’t phone it in as he could have.
What’s most refreshing is that Mackenzie has confidence in the audience. He and Piasecki take their time revealing just what’s at play and resist the urge to show their cards too soon. They trust the viewer doesn’t need intricacies of the plot spelled out for them, which makes for a more engaging experience. This, along with its third-act plot twist that pulls the rug out from under you, makes “Relay” a fun throwback to the era when filmmakers resisted the urge to spoon-feed the audience and we were all the better for it.
3 1/2 Stars
