August 21, 2025
FILM: RELAY
DIRECTED BY: DAVID MACKENZIE
STARRING: RIZ AHMED, LILY JAMES, SAM WORTHINGTON
RATING: 3 ½ out 4 stars
By Dan Pal
The title of the latest film from director David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water, Young Adam) has more than one meaning in the context of its narrative. The word typically is associated with a “relay” race. Yes, there are a bunch of characters here involved in a race to keep (or expose) details about the dangerous side effects connected to a corporation produced fertilizer that is laced with toxic chemicals. “Relay” can also mean an electrical device activated by a current or signal. Throughout the film characters use some modern (and not so modern) technology to connect people who are trying to uncover the secret documents containing details about the cover-up. We also think of “relay” in the context of “relaying” or passing information from one person to another. There’s a fascinating company depicted in the film called “Relay Services” which does just that. It is a middle man company where messages are sent and then read to a receiving party. This allows for a certain anonymity between the two parties, which is exactly what the corporations and outside forces want.
Are you still with me?? This may sound more complex than it is because ultimately this action thriller is fairly easy to follow. Riz Ahmed plays a character whose name is not revealed until close to the end of the film. He is a “fixer” of sorts who is approached to help a woman named Sarah, played by Lily Grant, who knows about the unlawful corporate cover-up and has considered going public with it. Trouble is there is a group, led by Sam Worthington as Dawson, who is surveilling her. Sara says she wants to get on with her life but needs the protection Ahmed’s services provide.
What this all amounts to is a series of cat and mouse chases between these three factions. The parallel scenes are well-edited to create suspense without forsaking clarity. In fact, Mackenzie wants us to feel like we understand what is happening between the parties – until a twist is thrown in which makes us question everything we’ve seen up until that point.
Still with me?? You should, for this is a top-notch thriller that also boasts excellent performances, editing, and cinematography. For much of the film, we don’t actually hear Ahmed speak. Through “Relay Services,” he communicates with Sarah and Dawson via a hearing assisted device for the deaf, on which he spends most of his time typing messages to them. (Reminding us of his great work as the hearing-impaired drummer in Sound of Metal a few years back.) What he has to do during these scenes is subtle and not outwardly reactive. This connects what he is doing to one of the underlying themes of the film concerning our communication through electronic devices. There’s a stoic, unemotional element to such forms of connection. When his character does break protocol and begins communicating using his real voice he actually endangers himself and potentially Sarah. So, is technology safer? No, because the film suggests there is ultimately a need for human connection and some good old fashioned physical interactions to solve our predicaments and yes, even feelings of loneliness. His character is also an alcoholic who lost many significant people in his life while clearly still in need of human interaction. Sadly though, he has found a career that keeps such connections distant as he doesn’t use modern forms of technology or social media.
Interestingly, the phone operators who work for the “Relay” company don’t actually come across (thanks to some great New York theater performers in the roles) as robotic like most technological “voices” often do on screen. Yet, they’ve been trained to relay messages without the slightest emotional connection to whomever they are speaking. One can only imagine how soon such employees would be replaced by artificial intelligence that could easily do the same job.
Also of note here is the abundance of camera movement contributing to the solid and energetic pacing of the film which opens with a long take of a character, played by Matthew Maher in New York, heading into a restaurant. From there cameras follow characters as they make their way from Times Square to Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and even Norman, Oklahoma. Again, everyone involved is a part of a relay of sorts to get the secret documents out to the public or keep them hidden. The constantly moving cameras create an unsteady feel reflective of the anxiety associated with each scene.
While clearly influenced by films from the 1970s and 90s, this is the type of thriller that Alfred Hitchcock made throughout his career. It’s not of the Psycho, The Birds, or Frenzy variety but more akin to his spy thrillers. Hitchcock often featured villains that looked like everyday people. Yet they harbor secrets and crime plans. In fact, there is a scene in a concert hall that resembles similar ones in Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much and The 39 Steps where innocent people may be about to experience something terrifying in a seemingly safe music environment. The movement across settings, changing identities, and confrontations between “good” and “evil” characters also suggests Hitchcock’s North By Northwest. There’s even a scene when a character is hanging for his life out of a moving vehicle which occurs in the climactic merry go-round scene in Strangers on a Train.
That said, Mackenzie creates an original film which builds to a thrilling climax like a lot of these movies do. There’s just enough character development to establish an audience connection to them but the primary focus is to establish an intricate plot with plenty of moving parts and, oh yeah, that surprising twist.
Relay opens wide in theaters this week.
FILM: RELAY
DIRECTED BY: DAVID MACKENZIE
STARRING: RIZ AHMED, LILY JAMES, SAM WORTHINGTON
RATING: 3 ½ out 4 stars
By Dan Pal
The title of the latest film from director David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water, Young Adam) has more than one meaning in the context of its narrative. The word typically is associated with a “relay” race. Yes, there are a bunch of characters here involved in a race to keep (or expose) details about the dangerous side effects connected to a corporation produced fertilizer that is laced with toxic chemicals. “Relay” can also mean an electrical device activated by a current or signal. Throughout the film characters use some modern (and not so modern) technology to connect people who are trying to uncover the secret documents containing details about the cover-up. We also think of “relay” in the context of “relaying” or passing information from one person to another. There’s a fascinating company depicted in the film called “Relay Services” which does just that. It is a middle man company where messages are sent and then read to a receiving party. This allows for a certain anonymity between the two parties, which is exactly what the corporations and outside forces want.
Are you still with me?? This may sound more complex than it is because ultimately this action thriller is fairly easy to follow. Riz Ahmed plays a character whose name is not revealed until close to the end of the film. He is a “fixer” of sorts who is approached to help a woman named Sarah, played by Lily Grant, who knows about the unlawful corporate cover-up and has considered going public with it. Trouble is there is a group, led by Sam Worthington as Dawson, who is surveilling her. Sara says she wants to get on with her life but needs the protection Ahmed’s services provide.
What this all amounts to is a series of cat and mouse chases between these three factions. The parallel scenes are well-edited to create suspense without forsaking clarity. In fact, Mackenzie wants us to feel like we understand what is happening between the parties – until a twist is thrown in which makes us question everything we’ve seen up until that point.
Still with me?? You should, for this is a top-notch thriller that also boasts excellent performances, editing, and cinematography. For much of the film, we don’t actually hear Ahmed speak. Through “Relay Services,” he communicates with Sarah and Dawson via a hearing assisted device for the deaf, on which he spends most of his time typing messages to them. (Reminding us of his great work as the hearing-impaired drummer in Sound of Metal a few years back.) What he has to do during these scenes is subtle and not outwardly reactive. This connects what he is doing to one of the underlying themes of the film concerning our communication through electronic devices. There’s a stoic, unemotional element to such forms of connection. When his character does break protocol and begins communicating using his real voice he actually endangers himself and potentially Sarah. So, is technology safer? No, because the film suggests there is ultimately a need for human connection and some good old fashioned physical interactions to solve our predicaments and yes, even feelings of loneliness. His character is also an alcoholic who lost many significant people in his life while clearly still in need of human interaction. Sadly though, he has found a career that keeps such connections distant as he doesn’t use modern forms of technology or social media.
Interestingly, the phone operators who work for the “Relay” company don’t actually come across (thanks to some great New York theater performers in the roles) as robotic like most technological “voices” often do on screen. Yet, they’ve been trained to relay messages without the slightest emotional connection to whomever they are speaking. One can only imagine how soon such employees would be replaced by artificial intelligence that could easily do the same job.
Also of note here is the abundance of camera movement contributing to the solid and energetic pacing of the film which opens with a long take of a character, played by Matthew Maher in New York, heading into a restaurant. From there cameras follow characters as they make their way from Times Square to Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and even Norman, Oklahoma. Again, everyone involved is a part of a relay of sorts to get the secret documents out to the public or keep them hidden. The constantly moving cameras create an unsteady feel reflective of the anxiety associated with each scene.
While clearly influenced by films from the 1970s and 90s, this is the type of thriller that Alfred Hitchcock made throughout his career. It’s not of the Psycho, The Birds, or Frenzy variety but more akin to his spy thrillers. Hitchcock often featured villains that looked like everyday people. Yet they harbor secrets and crime plans. In fact, there is a scene in a concert hall that resembles similar ones in Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew Too Much and The 39 Steps where innocent people may be about to experience something terrifying in a seemingly safe music environment. The movement across settings, changing identities, and confrontations between “good” and “evil” characters also suggests Hitchcock’s North By Northwest. There’s even a scene when a character is hanging for his life out of a moving vehicle which occurs in the climactic merry go-round scene in Strangers on a Train.
That said, Mackenzie creates an original film which builds to a thrilling climax like a lot of these movies do. There’s just enough character development to establish an audience connection to them but the primary focus is to establish an intricate plot with plenty of moving parts and, oh yeah, that surprising twist.
Relay opens wide in theaters this week.