David Mackenzie’s “Relay” opens with a corporate worker being assured by a suit-and-tie executive that he will be safe and that, after an exchange of information and veiled threats, it will be, hopefully, the last time the two will ever see each other.
The middleman of this transaction, a “fixer” named Tom (Riz Ahmed), isn’t even present during the interaction. His influence and assistance in this tense, potentially dangerous one-on-one isn’t just essential, it’s his expertise.
Tom is the unseen but vital element that keeps whistleblowers and innocent victims safe when dealing with powerful corporations that can make any problem or troublemaker disappear.
When he allows himself to go out in broad daylight, Tom attends rehab and bonds with his sponsor. Otherwise, his work as a “fixer,” which he dreads but excels at, is always pulling him back.
His latest assignment: a worker named Sarah (Lily James) holds vital info and needs Tom’s protection while she takes on a corporation so powerful, they have sent a crew of hitmen (whose deadly leader is played by Sam Worthington) out to stop her at any cost.
Tom and Sarah communicate through a telephone relay service, where someone anonymous on one end of the phone allows them to communicate. Much of the film consists of phone calls through a relay service, visits to airports and especially the post office.
It’s as exciting as it sounds.
I enjoy John le Carre thrillers, particularly “The Russia House” (both the 1989 novel and the magnificent 1990 film adaptation) and don’t need cloak and dagger thrillers to be reliant on action sequences. However, “Relay” takes it in such a pared-down direction, it plays like a deconstructed cheeseburger, the kind that arrives on a glossy plate as a pink ground chuck rolled in a ball, next to a thin slice of cheese and Ritz crackers.
Does that sound unsatisfying? Exactly.
Riz Ahmed and Lily James raise the stakes in “the intense summer thriller we’ve been waiting for” (@thedailybeast) with RELAY. Now playing only in theaters! #RelayMovie pic.twitter.com/aO5LJjBAWK
— Bleecker Street (@bleeckerstfilms) August 21, 2025
Here’s another way to look at “Relay,” which avoids cranking up the volume until the last few minutes and simmers at the mildest level possible. Why energize your spy thriller with chases, shoot outs, car crashes, sex scenes and high stakes poker games?
Instead, how about depicting your hero having long typing sessions, sitting in an airport terminal, thinking to himself and going to UPS? In fact, there’s a scene where the villain asks a UPS worker how long it would take to get a package delivered, then asks to check if a package arrived and the worker helpfully informs her that, sorry, it hasn’t arrived yet.
I’m not kidding, this really happens in “Relay.”
James is very good and gives the best performance, while Ahmed’s considerable intensity isn’t entirely well-suited for a part that requires him to be a literal and figurative shut-in. Worthington’s similarly underwhelming “Man on a Ledge” (2012) suggests that, when he’s not in Pandora, the talented actor ought to find better scripts that are worth his time.
I’m reminded of a movie review I wrote decades ago for my college paper on “The Saint” (1997), which I found uneventful and disappointing, despite how dynamic Val Kilmer was in the lead. A friend of mine stated that I was obviously comparing the film to a 007 thriller and failed to appreciate that the lower-key spying of Simon Templer isn’t on the babes and mayhem level of a typical James Bond adventure.
A fair observation. However, the relatively reserved mayhem of “The Saint” plays like a “Fast and Furious” sequel when compared to “Relay’s” slow-going plot beats.
Mackenzie’s “Hell or High Water” (2016), his contemporary western starring Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine, is an awesome achievement and one of the best films of its year. The passion exuded from that movie, in front of and behind the camera, is nowhere to be found in his latest effort.
Very late in the going, “Relay” drops a big whammy of a plot twist but, instead of belatedly turbo-charging this, it undermines the one thing about the movie that really worked and made us care. The third act consists of subpar chase and shoot scenes, where no one can hit their targets with a bullet, despite being a few feet away.
The action isn’t just poorly staged, it’s devoid of suspense, excitement and strangely just as mediocre as everything else here.
“Relay” is the kind of movie you watch on a flight, appreciating the distraction it provides, only to forget it the moment you deboard the plane.
One and a Half stars