In Relay, Riz Ahmed plays a mysterious man tasked with helping potential whistleblowers tackle the corporations out to get them. That’s till he encounters Sarah Grant (Lily James) – a young woman who captures his attention.
Relay
David Mackenzie (director), Justin Piasecki (writer), Giles Nuttgens (cinematography), Matt Mayer (editor)
Riz Ahmed, Lily James, Sam Worthington, Willa Fitzgerald (cast)
September 8, 2024 (TIFF)
Relay is the latest by versatile director David Mackenzie. It’s a thriller, or so we’re told. But there’s very little thrilling about it. The film has a relatively small cast of characters, all of whom are embroiled in trying to either encourage or prevent whistleblower Sarah Grant (Lily James) from leaking the sensitive information she has on her former workplace.
While the film is tight and brisk, its pace is so steady that I never felt any tension or suspense. Parts of it are really fun and clever – there’s a scene in a train station that had Mission: Impossible-level subterfuge in it. But the rest of it falls flat.
The trouble with Relay is that it tries to do too much. This is a recurring problem with films at festivals like the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The main story is fine, but the writing keeps trying to imbue the narrative with more layers and complexities. You have two hours, there’s only so much time to peel the layers of the onion. Pick a lane.
Despite the characters spending the majority of their time either standing about, walking about, and talking on the phone, most of the performances were enjoyable— Sam Worthington was really impressive, leaning into some of the more intentionally comedic to give his scary henchman character some much-needed personality.
Riz Ahmed rarely misses, and it’s not like he does a bad job in Relay, but it’s not like he’s given a ton of heavy lifting to do either. He spends a majority of the film without dialogue, and he’s able to do it easily with simple actions and expressions. But the issue comes back to the creators imbuing his character with complexities and mysteries that they don’t flesh out. We are told these complexities, not shown them, and the answers to the mysteries are shoe-horned in at the end of the film. After the screening, Mackenzie said that the role was offered to Riz Ahmed, so why not lean into how dynamic and charming a performer Ahmed can be and cut back on the logistics work the character has to do? You can’t develop a fully-formed character that way. Further, they cast an actor of Islamic heritage for a reason, but barring one scene of exposition, they don’t tap into why that’s relevant. This goes back to the original issue — he can either be a mystery or a three-dimensional character. You can’t have both in such a short, packed space of time.
I will never understand Lily James — she seems to always play the same kind of naïveté in every film she’s in. She does the same here.
The one aspect of Relay that I really liked was the messengers. I won’t give away much away about who these people are in the context of the film, but this group of characters broke the monotony of only seeing the main characters. You know nothing about these people, and you don’t want to, but they’re a refreshing change of pace in the film whenever they show up.
Director Mackenzie said, while watching the world premiere of Relay at TIFF, that he was certain the audience would catch the major twist in the film. He tried his best to ensure people who were rewatching the film didn’t feel cheated. I’m so intrigued because the twist came out of nowhere for me. I didn’t hate it, it’s quite intriguing. But I felt it came very late in the film. Too late, in fact.
Relay is a thriller, but it’s not a tense thriller. The first several minutes confound us as we’re left wondering what exactly is going on. This was especially egregious to me because, having just seen Can I Get a Witness?, which so cleverly gives us clues to what’s happening while interweaving it with character beats that keep us invested. This film failed at that. I also think the third act was quite a mess. So much is thrown at the final act, when there should have been hints and clues layered throughout Relay. It makes the final act feel rushed. All in all, though, Relay is worth a watch if you’re looking for something diverting in the evening, but it’s no Mission: Impossible, which is the franchise this film most reminded me of. It never quite transcends its origins as a thriller, though it really wants to.
