'Relay' Review: This Enigmatic Espionage Thriller Is Easy to Decipher [TIFF 2024]
Riz ahmed’s welcomed star vehicle is a taut yet entertaining espionage thriller.
With a wildly impressive career behind him, and an Oscar to his name, it is kind of hard to believe that it has taken this long for a more traditional star vehicle to come Riz Ahmed’s way. Relay has all the makings of a great espionage thriller, clearly riffing on iconic films like Michael Clayton and the Alan Pakula paranoia films of the 70’s, with writer Justin Piasecki creating his own spin on the genre with Relay’s very unique approach to its premise. Corporate whistleblowers and paranoia are nothing new, but Piasecki carves out his niche with the titular telephone relay system as the narrative nexus of this film. Ahmed’s protagonist goes by many names, and wears many hats, (quite literally) as the intermediary ‘fixer’ between corporate whistleblowers and corporations looking to keep their secrets out of the public eye. Ahmed’s character is just a pure delight to see in action, donning a new outfit in every scene, and always feels like an assured professional who is excellent at his job, clever beyond measure, even when his character is indeed stumbling along to the various narrative forks in the road. It is extremely refreshing to see a lead of South Asian and Muslim descent in this genre as someone who is not a one-note, stereotypical terrorist, but rather a delightfully unique and puzzling protagonist with a sizeable amount of nuance, tangibility and character.
Where Relay really sings is when it harkens back to the stylistic aura its predecessors while diving deep into exploring its unique conceptual approach. The relay telephone system as a means of communication makes for some very intriguing and sharply-edited scenes which help to imbue a ton of tension, and are frankly, flat-out fun to see unfold. This framing device also makes for a great approach to the character dynamics at play. Both Lily James and Sam Worthington are able to convey a lot through their phone calls alone, with Worthington in particular getting to really ham it up and commit to the thriller antagonist vibe.
Director David Mackenzie’s career is anything but predictable, having tackled a great variety of genres. He has done a more hard-edged sort of contemporary thriller with Hell or High Water, and he handles the sleek, sharp nature of Relay quite well directorially. Mackenzie is able to emulate vibes of of filmmakers like Michael Mann and Tony Gilroy through his cool and composed directing approach, welcome callbacks and reference points. Mackenzie very much understands the kind of film he’s making, and commits to it very well.
Everything about Relay on paper is really quite admirable. It’s well assembled and extremely entertaining, with a genuinely new approach to an extensive genre. Even when it does stumble a bit with its twisty nature towards the end, it still does manage to keep you entertained and mostly invested as a thrill ride, even if it still does feel a tad too polished and as if it is coming off as a bit smarter than it is.