RELAY: No Kaboom, No Problem

RELAY (Blu-ray)

2024 / 112 min

Bleecker Street/Decal Releasing

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Betrayer😸

2025 has been a pretty good year for thrillers driven more by complexity and characters than kinetic kaboom. Not that everyone’s really noticed.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with kaboom. I happen to love kaboom. I love Burger King Whoppers, too…just not for every meal. Sometimes you want to do a bit more than watch stuff happen. Sometimes you want a story than precludes running to the bathroom for fear of missing something important, with characters whose actions or motives aren’t spoonfed to you. Sometimes you want a twist in the tale that belies expectations and has you going, “Whoa…didn’t see that coming.”

Along with Black Bag, one of this year’s best films, Relay fits the bill quite nicely. In a perfect world, both would have been huge hits, or at least successful enough to remind studios that not everyone goes to the movies for fireworks.

In Relay, the story is the action. Riz Ahmed plays Ash, a freelancer who serves as a mediary between unscrupulous corporations and whistleblowers who threaten to expose their activities. He doesn’t interact or speak with either side directly, instead using a phone relay service to conduct negotiations. It’s a morally questionable profession, since Ash is essentially extorting these organizations into buying back incriminating evidence while keeping a copy to ensure his clients’ protection. Fiercely meticulous and protective of his own identity, Ash never allows himself to become personally invested, ready to walk away if any aspect of the job threatens to go south.

Nobody tells Ash when to walk.

But that changes when he agrees to help Sarah Grant (Lily James), who possesses a report containing evidence that her former employer, Cybo Sementis Research, has concealed harmful side effects of their genetic work involving wheat. Not only has Sarah lost her job, the company now has her under surveillance by a ruthless team led by Dawson (Sam Worthington). Via the relay service, Ash negotiates a $500,000 pay-off for the return of the report and to ensure Sarah’s safety, which turns into an intriguing cat-and-mouse game between Ash and Dawson, with the former being the cat…for awhile, at least. 

Despite his professional mantra, Ash does let his guard down during relayed phone conversations with Sarah. So when she makes mistakes that threaten his elaborate plan - as well as her life - he personally intervenes to protect her, at the risk of exposing himself to Dawson. But the plot is just beginning to unfold, and to elaborate further would spoil some terrific twists and surprises the viewer is unlikely to see coming. I will say that this is a movie where every scene - including the prologue that establishes Ash’s methods - is vital to the narrative. It's a credit to the film that we seldom question its overall plausibility. At least while watching.

But Relay isn’t entirely driven by its plot. Ash himself is an intriguing character…a recovering alcoholic who eventually reveals that the ethics of his job does sort-of weigh on him. True to the nature of his profession, the character has little actual dialogue and mostly isolates himself from others (his addiction recovery meetings being a notable exception). And Ahmed is excellent in the role, conveying more with an expression than a page of dialogue could provide.

Largely devoid of kaboom or traditional action (at least until the climax), Relay is nevertheless as fast-paced, tension-filled thriller. With good performances, snappy direction by David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water) and a complex (but not confusing) story, this is a really fun film that deserves to find an audience.