★★★ (3 out of 4)
The end sucks. And that’s a damn shame because until then “Relay” (only in theaters), directed with tense, twisty elegance by David Mackenzie (“Hell or High Water”) with a lead performance to match by Riz Ahmed, is a corporate espionage thriller that really gets your paranoid mojo working. And that’s because going in you probably won’t have a clue what “relay” means in this context.
I’ll explain. Relay started off as a hearing or listening device for the deaf to make phone calls via a texting tool that an operator then reads to the person receiving it. The American Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits relay operators from disclosing all or part the relay conversation. No calls are recorded and everything you say is confidential.
...[T]hanks to sharp direction, spot-on performances and tension that won’t quit, ['Relay'] grips you in a vise of suspense that makes it worth seeing...
It wasn’t long until a loophole was discovered. In this film, that person is Ash (Ahmed), a fixer or intermediary who uses the law to protect his anonymity. Let’s say a whistleblower loses nerve about making accusations against a company, usually because of threats or intimidation. For a price, he or she can hire a relay operator who can negotiate a truce between both sides without fear of retaliation.
Enter Sarah Grant, played with visible anxiety by Lily James. Sarah is a biotech scientist who uncovers evidence of a company coverup about a genetically modified wheat whose risks have been suppressed. Sarah stole the results, intending to leak them in the public interest. Now she’s being threatened by a company team, led by Dawson (a menacing Sam Worthington).
Through the grapevine, Sarah hears about Ash, who can contact her company, return the stolen records and negotiate a deal. With each side paying Ash, who holds on to the records as a guarantee, everyone can go back to normal, right?
No way, as Sarah’s company contrives to game the system, outside the legal bounds, of course. It’s up to Ash to protect Sarah from the wolves at her door. Working from a tight script by Jason Piasecki, director Mackenzie generates tremendous excitement as Ash slithers around every nook or cranny of New York trying to evade capture or worse.
“Relay” grips you in a vise of suspense as it creates is a thriller-diller for the age of surveillance, recalling such 1970s classics of paranoia as Francis Coppola’s “The Conversation” with Gene Hackman and Sydney Pollack’s “Three Days of the Condor” with Robert Redford.
Ahmed crushes the role, with a paucity of dialogue and only his eyes to reflect the trauma roiling under his façade of cool. Sadly, the film goes south as its heads into a wrap-up that contrives a relationship between Ash and Sarah and adds a final curveball that strains credulity beyond the breaking point.
So, yeah, “Relay” blows its chance at classic status. But for a while, thanks to sharp direction, spot-on performances and tension that won’t quit, it grips you in a vise of suspense that makes it worth seeing, at least until it dives off a cliff into a head-shaking climax.