TIFF Mini-Reviews - Relay

Relay is the new film from director David Mackenzie (known for Hell or High Water and Outlaw King). It’s a tight and tense thriller about Tom (Riz Ahmed), a man who acts as a go-between for sketchy deals between corrupt corporations and would-be whistleblowers who have second thoughts and wish to return their evidence to the companies with a guarantee of safety. It's a film that very much has the feel of a corporate whistleblower movie like The Insider or Michael Clayton, but with even more cloak and dagger action.

Riz Ahmed’s understated performance carries this tight thriller from beginning to end.

The main conceit of the movie is that Tom, in order to keep his identity secret so that he can’t be targeted by the companies he deals with, uses a Message Relay Service for all of his communications. This is a service that people with hearing difficulties use in order to be able to make calls, where they can type and read responses using a teletypewriter but the person on the other end speaks to an anonymous operator in a call center who is prohibited from keeping records of the calls. It’s a great detail that I haven’t seen in movies before, and not only does it draw attention to this useful service, but the story makes use of it in such a way as to add to the intrigue and secrecy of the plot. 

Riz Ahmed gives a very subtle but powerful performance in a role where he spends about half of the movie alone, and only communicating through the teletypewriter. He’s so good, and even though he already has an Oscar nomination under his belt, it’s possible that he’s still underrated as an actor. His performance is complemented by solid acting by Lily James, Sam Worthington, and Willa Fitzgerald. If you’re in the mood for a tense thriller, this movie absolutely delivers the goods.