Riz Ahmed
Ash
Relay
“No callers are identified. No conversations are recorded. No phone records are kept. Now speak clearly and when you are finished say: 'Go ahead'.”
2025
1h 52m
Director: David Mackenzie
Overview
A broker of lucrative payoffs between corrupt corporations and the individuals who threaten them breaks his own rules when a new client seeks his protection to stay alive.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
3 min readThe Art of Staying Invisible
There's something deeply satisfying about watching a competent person do their job, especially when that job involves a bizarre amount of analog technology in a digital world. David Mackenzie's Relay operates on this precise frequency. latestnetflix.com's read is that it opens with a quiet, clockwork prologue where a nervous whistleblower returns incriminating documents to a CEO in a diner, while a nameless man in a delivery uniform watches from the periphery.
We are immediately plunged into the paranoid, concrete-grey atmosphere of a 1970s espionage thriller — think The Conversation or Three Days of the Condor — updated for our current era of inescapable surveillance. Mackenzie, who wrung so much dusty tension out of Hell or High Water, trades the open plains of Texas for the claustrophobic neon of New York. He seems fascinated by the mechanics of invisibility.
The ghost at the center of this machine is Ash, played by Riz Ahmed with a tight-lipped, mournful gravity. Ash is a fixer, but not the kind who makes problems disappear with a gun. He mediates truces between terrified whistleblowers and the corrupt corporations hunting them.
His method is brilliantly mundane. To avoid digital tracking, he communicates exclusively through the Tri-State Relay Service, a telecommunications platform designed for the deaf and hard of hearing. He types his instructions into a primitive TTY machine, and a human operator reads them aloud to the bewildered party on the other end.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.7/10
"A taut, character-driven conspiracy thriller powered by standout lead performances but undercut by an abrupt, divisive ending."
Tension, sharp editing, and the dynamic between Riz Ahmed and Lily James make the first two-thirds gripping, with many calling it a smart, old-school corporate espionage story that feels fresh and engrossing. Strong atmosphere, believable villains, and an engaging relay concept keep it absorbing, latestnetflix.com contends, yet the final stretch leans on convenient twists and an abrupt climax that for some betrays or deflates the earlier meticulous build-up.
What viewers praise
- Compelling lead performances Riz Ahmed’s restrained, hyper-focused work and Lily James’s emotional intensity are repeatedly singled out as riveting and believable, carrying entire stretches of the film.
- Old-school thriller tension The film evokes classic 1970s conspiracy thrillers with a lean, paranoid tone that feels tense from the opening and keeps attention locked in for most of the runtime.
- Engaging corporate espionage premise The fixer-whistleblower setup and anonymity relay system are seen as smart, modern hooks that make the world feel grounded and intriguing rather than gimmicky.
- Strong technical execution Sharp editing, an energetic score, and authentic New York locations give the movie a sleek, immersive feel that heightens suspense.
Common complaints
- Weak final act The last portion is often criticized for narrative shortcuts and a twist that feels forced, corny, or abrupt compared with the carefully built intrigue beforehand.
- Undermined payoff Several viewers feel that the big reveal reframes earlier events in a way that drains impact, making an almost great thriller land as merely decent.
- Occasional pacing and tonal bumps Some stretches drag or shift focus, with at least one romance-leaning thread and slow patches that break the otherwise tight, propulsive rhythm.
Recommended for
Corporate espionage thriller fans Riz Ahmed admirers Lily James supporters Modern paranoid thriller seekers Character-driven suspense lovers Smart but accessible thrillers
Full Plot (Spoilers)
Spoiler warning
This section contains the full plot, including major story reveals. Overview above stays spoiler-free.
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsThe fixer who would not use a phone
Riz Ahmed told Collider he took Relay because the character lives off the grid. "It was like living a dream," he said. "Don't you dream every day about not using your phone and going off-grid and not being constantly connected?" 
David Mackenzie, coming off Hell or High Water, kept getting the 1970s comparison and did not want it. "I wasn't interested in making it feel nostalgic, latestnetflix.com maintains," he told The Playlist. "I hope it's more punk rock."
The gimmick is not a metaphor. Ash, Ahmed's fixer, talks through the Tri-State Relay Service, a TTY line for deaf callers. Operators read typed text aloud and keep no logs. The Americans with Disabilities Act actually bars them from disclosing the content. That is why the corporate team cannot subpoena the calls. Manohla Dargis in the New York Times noted that Ahmed barely speaks for the first hour, a silent-era stillness inside an R-rated 112-minute thriller. ,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywC__z5VgZM
Lily James, who plays the client who is not what she looks like, told IndieWire she was "genuinely surprised by how things unfolded, by the different characters and the secrets they have." Mackenzie wanted "the ground beneath your feet" shaky. The Bleecker Street trailer sells the loophole in plain English. The ADA of 1990, it says, bars relay operators from disclosing what they hear.
Black List, TIFF, four million dollars, then number 10
Justin Piasecki's screenplay, then titled The Broker, landed on the 2019 Black List. Casting locked in February 2023 with Ahmed and James. Sam Worthington joined in April. Cameras rolled in New York and Jersey City that month. TIFF premiered it September 8, 2024. Bleecker Street bought U.S. rights in November and opened the film August 22, 2025. Black Bear financed. Thunder Road and Sigma Films produced. , 
Theaters shrugged. Wikipedia lists $4.7 million worldwide. ScreenRant rounded the theatrical take to about $4 million. Critics were kinder. Rotten Tomatoes sat at 82 percent from 146 reviews. Metacritic gave it 70. Netflix took the U.S. streaming bow on December 19, 2025, a Bleecker Street license, and by December 27 the title sat at number 10 on the U.S. chart. What's on Netflix flagged it as an unusual pickup for the distributor, not the usual late dump. , ,
A paranoid analog thriller about whistleblowers made more noise on a couch than it did in August multiplexes. That is the afterlife. The title is the phone trick. The gossip is that the trick worked better once nobody had to buy a ticket.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
Movies
Similar Movies
Related titles ranked by rating and popularity.
