RELAY

TIFF 24 REVIEW BY: KURT MORRISON

DATE: SEPTEMBER 14, 2024

RATING: 1.5 out of 5

I have been a fan of director David Macenzie for a long while now, starting all the back when a little 2009 film called Spread starring Ashton Kutcher popped up at my local Blockbuster and really blew me away. It was a simpler time when lower budget films got that straight-to-DVD release and I would scurry the walls and aisles of Blockbuster for an hour looking for hidden gems.

Since 2009, Mackenzie has only made a few feature films yet really made a name for himself in the directing world, garnering success both critically and commercially, the most notably being 2016's Hell or High Water.

RELAY had me excited because of all it's moving pieces yet even with Mackenzie's keen eye and a stellar cast featuring Riz Ahmed, Lilly James and Sam Worthington, I found myself underwhelmed by RELAY when all was said and done.

Now I'm not saying it's a bad film, but I had created these lofty expectations for any Mackenzie film so I was almost upset with myself when I said "...... that's it?".

Centering around Riz Ahmed as Ash, an off-the-grid technologist who brokers deals between whistleblowers and endangered companies, he helps individuals second-guessing their desire to expose their employers, by negotiating the return of stolen documents and other evidence through means of a large, lump sum payout.

His methods almost seem archaic though, as he transfers cash via the US Postal Service and as uses a state run relay service for the deaf and hard of hearing as a means to communicate with his whistleblower clients and whatever corporate overlord scumbag may be harassing them, hence the title RELAY.

His new client is Sarah, played by Lilly James, a researcher at an agricultural company who has stolen documents that reveal her former employers knowingly sell a fertilizer laced with toxic chemicals.

LISTEN, LIKE I SAID, cool idea. But with such a great plot that feels so relevant and news worthy on a frequent basis, I wanted to feel more anxiety and minute-to-minute tension while both Ash and Sarah keep their Agricultural overlords at bay.

My other qualm with the movie revolves around the financial aspect of the plot. We find out early on that the particular Agricultural company that is chasing Lilly James' Sarah is on the verge of massive corporate buy-out worth billions. And when Ahmed's Ash negotiates a buy-back of the documents for mere $500k, again, I turned to myself and said "..... that's it....".

The stakes for the company feel high but James' Sarah and their monetary gain don't seem all that exciting or even worth it.

Mackenzie and his cinematographer Giles Nuttgens use New York City's natural anxious manner to explore and exploit the situation our characters find themselves in , so when situations arise in the second and third act, that result in both Ash and Sarah to have to run, NYC really pops off the screen. Even that feels short lived though, which is such a shame because it's such a different setting than Mackenzie's other films and I would have love to have seen more time spent on touring the ins and outs of the Big Apple.

Although entertaining, there was seeds for this to be the talk of the festival but RELAY never feels like it reaches its full potential because of a third act as well as strange choices for its two leads.