FILM
RELAY
THE FIX IS IN FOR RIZ
Riz Ahmed’s in a sticky situation;
Sam Worthington;
★★★
OUT OCTOBER 31 / CERT 15 / 112 MINS
DIRECTOR David Mackenzie
CAST Riz Ahmed, Lily James, Sam Worthington, Willa Fitzgerald
PLOT After getting caught up in a corporate scandal, Sarah (James) contacts a fixer, Ash (Ahmed). In order to protect her, Ash is forced to break his own rules.
IF THERE’S ONE thing clear from the off, it’s that David Mackenzie’s Relay has its sights firmly set on the paranoid thrillers of the ’70s. Following Sarah (Lily James), a corporate worker looking to expose the questionable practices at the bioengineering company where she works, the opening plunges straight into the world of whistleblowing, with visuals that bring to mind genre classics like The China Syndrome and The Conversation. The twist is that once Sarah finds herself entangled with the wrong people, her only lifeline is a fixer, Riz Ahmed’s Ash, who communicates exclusively through a relay service, a telephone system that allows people with hearing or speech impairments to talk to hearing people. Much of the story unfolds through a series of phone calls and low-key package drop-offs, creating a tension-filled story that zips along.