From the moment the first bar of music is played, you’ll be on your guard. The tension is set and rises with each beat. The setting? A grimy diner in New York; an anxious man, unshaven, twitching as he waits. Out of a limo steps one of the “haves,” annoyance in his stride, tight-lipped, anger simmering just under the bespoke topcoat. They exchange envelopes; a selfie is taken, and the plutocrat, eyes slit, murmurs a terse “I hope you got what you wanted” and exits to his four-wheeled cocoon.
Director David Mackenzie and writer Justin Piasecki have set the stage for a mystery thriller that continues at a slow burn that gradually increases in speed and heat as the stakes are raised, and raised and raised yet again. Mackenzie, the masterful director of one of my favorite films in recent years, “Hell or High Water,” knows how to ramp up action, danger, stakes and build character. Piasecki’s skillfully crafted screenplay makes him someone to follow in the future.
Ash is a fixer. He brokers payoffs to whistleblowers whose information was ignored and suppressed by the corrupt corporations and CEOs who stand to lose much, if not everything, should that information be released to the public. The whistleblowers who hire Ash are men and women who, in trying to do the right thing, are threatened, harassed and in danger of grave bodily harm, if not death. Ash has just brokered such a deal between Hoffman and a big pharma CEO who will do everything he can to make sure that Hoffman’s incendiary report is not released before the big launch of their latest drug—whose clinical trials revealed major side effects. The payoff, in six figures, was more than Hoffman expected, but his instructions from Ash reveal that he is not yet out of danger.
Ash has been doing this for quite some time. He’s a loner and has isolated himself completely. None of his clients, on either side of the table, have ever met him. They find him through a remote answering service, a number that is floating in the ether. If, after due diligence, Ash finds the caller to be credible, he will communicate via a rather antiquated system known as a TDD (Telecommunication Device for the Deaf), a telephone relay service that was designed to facilitate communication between the deaf and hearing. Ash calls into the service through his own TDD, typing his message to an operator who then contacts the designated party and is told that they are going to relay a message from another, speechless (and presumably deaf) person. They may talk to the relay operator who will then type the message to the caller. No voice to recognize, no phone to track, no emotional attachment; just instructions, instructions that must be followed to the letter. Unimpeachable and entirely private, the relay service deletes all messages within 24 hours.
Always at a distance from his clients and adversaries, Ash has meticulously kept and secreted records of each transaction as a hedge against any future retribution or foul play against the whistleblower. His no-affect demeanor is his armor against personal involvement. These are transactions and he is the third-party negotiator. Until…
Photos courtesy of Bleecker Street
Sarah, a Ph.D. with impeccable credentials, calls a number she has been given, Ash’s answering service. She is terrified. The company where she worked has a new genetically modified organism (GMO) that has the potential to increase harvests at a very low cost. It would revolutionize the agriculture industry. Sarah discovered, however, that the GMO had a toxic and possibly fatal side effect. Because this product would be used in general foodstuffs, any potential adverse reactions would be almost impossible to trace back to the original source, releasing the company of all liability.
Sarah tried to bring the results to her superiors; she tried to do what she thought was right. For her troubles, she was demoted and then let go. Righteously angry, she surreptitiously gathered all the written evidence and left with it. It wasn’t long before the company discovered what she had done and she has been on the run ever since, tracked by company hired cyber thugs. She needs help. She’s in fear for her life. She wants to return the documents. Ash, receiving the message, begins his vetting of this potential client. His online search reveals that she is who she says she is. Ash, the loner, is struck by the emotion leaking from this terrified woman. His normal armor has seemingly been pierced by her tone and situation. He begins a relay interaction with her, one that is more fraught than usual and littered with mistakes. Hiding in plain sight, he ascertains that she is, indeed, being followed and stalked. Somehow they are aware of her every move. Ash’s job won’t just be to negotiate but also to protect.
The beauty of “Relay” is the speed at which everything moves. As a viewer, or rather a participant drawn into the threats and machinations, your pulse will race and your body will tense. Mackenzie is a master at roping you in and tightening the knot. Nothing is situational, and yet all of it is. Piasecki has created characters of deep dimension and believability. More to the point, there are no wasted moments and everything, no matter how small, will eventually come into play meaningfully when you least expect it. As Linda Loman said in “Death of a Salesman,” “Attention must be paid!” As you are being lulled into believing that the story is going one way or a personal interaction is a sentimental dead end, you will be wrong. Every action, reaction and interaction is meaningful even if you have to wait until the end to figure it out.
“Relay” is entirely satisfying and my favorite movie of the year. This is a cat-and-mouse game where the cat and the mouse shift at dizzying speeds. The fear you feel is full of “what ifs.” And, as mentioned right at the beginning, composer Tony Doogan, a Mackenzie staple, slyly set the mood with his tense scoring. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey has made the dark streets of a Brooklyn that lies under elevated tracks and along a filthy water’s edge a character in Ash’s story. But that is not to diminish the story impact of every location, no matter how small, out of the way or seemingly insignificant.
“Relay” tells a terrific story, but the cast is the greater part of that. Sam Worthington as Dawson, one of the very clever cyber thugs, is truly frightening. His handsome face offsets his deadly eyes, making him an effective villain of the scariest sort. Lily James is Sarah. Her fear is palpable, her air ingenuous and her beauty a lure. It is completely believable that she would break through Ash’s isolation.
The reason I was attracted to his film in the first place was its star, Riz Ahmed. Ahmed, whose breakthroughs in “The Night Of” and “Sound of Metal,” is a must-see performer, much like Michael B. Jordan, Taron Egerton, Tom Hiddleston and especially Olivia Coleman. Ahmed, as Ash, has an invulnerability on the surface that disguises pain and past injustices that eventually bubble to the surface. It’s not exactly a spoiler, but his Ash says not one word through at least the first third of the movie, establishing a stoicism that infuses his characterization.
This is an exceptional thriller whose surface plot disguises its depth of focus. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Opening Aug. 22 at Century City 15 The Grove 14 and AMC theaters in the South Bay. On Aug. 23 there will be a Q&A with director David Mackenzie at the AMC Century City 15.
Neely Swanson spent most of her professional career in the television industry, almost all of it working for David E. Kelley. In her last full-time position as Executive Vice President of Development, she reviewed writer submissions and targeted content for adaptation. As she has often said, she did book reports for a living. For several years she was a freelance writer for “Written By,” the magazine of the WGA West, and was adjunct faculty at USC in the writing division of the School of Cinematic Arts. Neely has been writing film and television reviews for the “Easy Reader” for more than 10 years. Her past reviews can be read on Rotten Tomatoes where she is a tomatometer-approved critic.
