Starring Riz Ahmed and Lily James, the gripping, intense suspense thriller Relay, releases on August 22nd. Even before I go into details, with no spoilers, I have to say this is a film you do not want to miss.
Directed by David Mackenzie, this cool thriller is full of taut tension, suspense, and mystery from the very first moment, and it never really lets up. It is brilliantly written, terrifically paced, and outstandingly performed. But more on that in a few lines. First, let’s set the scene.
In Relay, Riz Ahmed plays a world-class “fixer” who specializes in brokering lucrative payoffs between corrupt corporations and the individuals, whistleblowers, who threaten their ruin. He keeps his identity a secret through meticulous planning and always follows an exacting set of rules. However, when a message arrives one day from a potential client (Lily James), who needs his protection to stay alive, the rules quickly change. Boy, do they change. As I said, I will not give any spoilers, but I was unprepared for what happened. I will say no more!
Usually, I watch the trailer before I watch a film to review and add the trailer to the review article, but this time, I held myself back, and you should avoid watching the trailer too. I really feel it will add even more to go in blind, get immersed, and experience watching the twists and turns play out. It did for me!
The director, David Mackenzie, described Relay as, “A tense New York thriller which is very much of the now but has echoes of the great soulful paranoid thrillers of the ’70s. It’s a film about an outsider trying to do the right thing, it’s about loneliness and the raw, unsung bravery of whistleblowers who have to stand up to the powerful and dangerous forces trying to prevent them from speaking out. My aim was to try to make a sophisticated, intelligent film that is tense, entertaining, and engaging.”
He succeeded! Fraught with tension and so much intrigue, this is one of the best thrillers I have seen in a long while. The director kept it edgy, filled with nervous energy, confusion, and layered mystery, which added to the agitation and unease you felt along with what the characters were experiencing. Nothing was Over The Top as movies tend to be nowadays; it was all ramped up, but still very calm, and that was a masterstroke because it invested you even more in the story.
The human element they added balanced out the incredible disquiet and paranoid energy that was the thriller aspect of the piece. Being lonely, struggling with what the right thing to do is, and so many more feelings that the entire cast had to delve into, added the depth and the soul to the film.
The film really had the ’70s suspense thriller vibe that was so effective back in the day and even more so today. Relay would have been a hit then, and it should be a hit now. Another incredible addition, small but mighty, was the crowd scenes on New York streets (again, it felt very 70s mystery coded). So many moments happened just off the frame, and it really put you inside the city, bringing in an extra layer that added so much to setting up the Relay world.
Riz Ahmed is brilliant. From his first entrance, he commands the frame even if he is supposed to be in the shadows. You don’t truly know who he is. Is he the good guy, the bad guy… or both. What a way to introduce a lead character and amp up the questions of what is to come. Adding to the intrigue is that his character does not say anything for much of the first part of the film. Then there is the unique way he communicates, which is so novel… but I won’t reveal more except that it takes the story and the feeling of the film and ratchets it up even higher. His intensity jumps off the screen even with not a word spoken. If I had not known it was Riz Ahmed, I would not have known it was him; he is so deep inside. He begins to open up as a character, and his performance is outstanding. His long speech, again, no spoilers, is done brilliantly. He is fantastic in every moment of the film.
Lily James is also incredible. You feel her nervousness, her vulnerability, but also her surety of what she is doing. This role must have been challenging because for much of the movie, she is alone. She is so this character, and you never feel as if she is acting, unless the character is acting, but that is getting too close to a spoiler. Realizing that this is the actress in Cinderella, which she was wonderful in, and how she has developed as an actress and killed it for this role in Relay is applause-worthy.
Honestly, this was a difficult review to write because I wanted to discuss so many plot points, moments, and scenes, but you must see and experience this movie firsthand. Just be prepared to sit on the edge of your seat the entire film, from the first scene to the last moment before the fade to black, but that is what makes it so, so, so good!
Relay is a shake-your-head, exclamation-worthy (yes, I did say “Oh My God and Wait, What”), pressure-filled journey that was so engrossing and entertaining. I Highly Recommend you go ahead and check how this cat-and-mouse game plays out in theaters on August 22nd!
