Relay: A Methodical Little Thriller with a Decent Payoff (Blu-ray)

The Film:

Actor Riz Ahmed has had a rather remarkable last few years, not only earning an Oscar nomination for his incredible performance in "Sound of Metal," but also winning one for his short film "The Long Goodbye." While it may seem like he hasn't been around as much lately, the truth is that he remains hard at work in smaller films like "Encounter" and "Fingernails," while also taking on small parts in major films like Wes Anderson's "The Phoenician Scheme." Another one of these smaller works that he starred in is David Mackenzie's "Relay," a film that was given a modest-sized theater count, but sadly didn't drum up much attention at the time of its release. However, Bleecker Street is now bringing this little thriller to Blu-ray to give everyone a chance to catch up with it, so the question becomes, is it worth doing so?

The film focuses on Ash (Riz Ahmed), who is a fixer that acts as an intermediary between whistleblowers and the companies they work for. His latest client, Sarah Grant (Lily James), was looking to expose her company for trying to cover up the side effects of their genetically modified wheat, but changes her mind and wants to return the damning documents after their attempts to intimidate her. Ash proceeds to help her, executing each step of the carefully-laid plan in a very meticulous manner, all while trying to avoid a special surveillance team led by Dawson (Sam Worthington). All seems to be going well, with Ash taking a particular interest in Sarah, until one small mistake sparks a series of events that could bring the whole thing crashing down.

"Relay" is a somewhat oddly-structured thriller, and indeed the first half could be fairly criticized for perhaps being a little too procedural & mechanical as Ash & Sarah go about executing the carefully-thought-out plan that has them making copies of the documents, mailing them, communicating through a relay service, etc., all while trying to stay a step ahead of the surveillance team that's trying to bring them down, but as we eventually come to realize, it's all in service of setting up the second half, where, as you can probably guess, something inevitably goes wrong.

From here, it amps up the thrills and the danger, with the entire plan being on the brink of falling apart due to one little error that needs to be corrected. Because of this, the film ends up balancing out rather nicely, taking its time in the first half to establish its set-up, but having it pay off in the second as some quick adjustments/improvisations are made to Ash's usual methods, turning it from its more-mechanical precision to having it hanging in the air as to whether it's going to work at all, and subsequently making for a nifty little thriller that pulls you in and keeps you engaged.

As mentioned, it's fair to say that the first half is perhaps a little drawn-out in regards to getting things going, and because of that, you could say that the duration of the film is just a little lengthy at nearly two hours, but given the intriguing nature of the set-up, which allows us to see Ash's methods in action, and the satisfactory payoff that the audience receives in the latter half, it can be forgiven for a touch of excessiveness in that regard. Overall, this is simply a fun & entertaining little thriller that never really got on the radar, but now that it's getting a physical release, hopefully that will lead to more people checking it out and seeing what they missed.

Video/Audio:

"Relay" comes to Blu-ray in a 2.35:1, 1080p High Definition transfer of outstanding quality, with the picture looking perfectly sharp & clear throughout its entire 112-minute duration. Likewise, the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is marvelous, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in excellent quality. Overall, Bleecker Street has done a great job in both areas for this little thriller's Blu-ray debut.

Special Features:

None.

Conclusion:

David Mackenzie's "Relay" may come off as a little procedural & mechanical in its first half as the main characters execute a carefully-arranged plan, but luckily the second half amps up the thrills & danger, giving the audience a satisfying payoff that ultimately balances the film out and turns it into a rather nifty little thriller that deserves more attention than it got.

Score: 3.5/5

Available on Blu-ray starting tomorrow.

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