The relay referred to in the title of David Mackenzie’s absurdly gripping new thriller, which premiered yesterday at the Toronto International Film Festival , is the Tri-State telecommunications relay service, a platform that enables those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing to make phone calls via a texting device and an operator. They type their messages on one end, and an operator reads it to the person on the other end. In Relay , however, the service is used to maintain anonymity by a man ( Riz Ahmed ) whose name might be Tom, or Ash, or something else, a cool, methodical professional who helps protect whistleblowers that have had a change of heart.
These are people who have made off with their former companies’ secrets but now want their lives back. To do so, they must contact their company, return what they’ve taken, and get some sort of guarantee that they will not be hunted down by any paid goons. Ash and the people he works for provide that guarantee in exchange for generous payments from both sides.
He’s both foot-soldier and guardian angel, quiet and ruthless. Frankly, this is a great idea for a corporate espionage thriller. Most viewers will be unfamiliar with a relay service, so discovering the way such services operate becomes part of the film’s many minor, fun reveals.
It also provides a novel way to keep the protagonists apart while allowing them to communicate. In Relay , Ash gets hired by Sarah Grant (Lily James), a scientist working for an agrobusine.