Relay (2024)
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2025-09 to 2026-08
A fixer for whistleblowers must navigate a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse while protecting a woman who holds incriminating evidence against a powerful corporation.
The story
In New York City, Ash is a fixer who mediates between whistleblowers and the corporations they expose, using a relay service for the deaf to maintain his anonymity. When Sarah Grant, a research scientist, seeks his help to safely return a document proving her employer, Cybo Sementis Research, covered up dangerous side effects of genetically modified wheat, Ash agrees to facilitate the return. However, Sarah is being hunted by a surveillance team. Ash must navigate a complex web of communication and logistics to protect her and the documents while evading the corporate operatives who are determined to silence her and seize the evidence before a major merger.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Ash, a fixer in New York City, assists Sarah Grant, who is fleeing a corporate conspiracy involving Cybo Sementis Research. Ash uses a relay service to communicate with her while she is hunted by a surveillance team led by Dawson. As they move through various locations including Pittsburgh, Ash manages to outmaneuver the team's tracking efforts, even receiving a payoff from the corporation. However, the situation complicates when Ash discovers the team has planted a tracker in the payment. Amidst the tension, Ash's personal struggles with alcoholism and his past are revealed. The climax occurs at a symphony where Sarah is captured by the team. Ash rescues her but is eventually captured himself. In a final twist, it is revealed that Sarah was actually a member of the corporate team sent to find Ash, who was the true target. After a final confrontation at a warehouse, Ash is arrested alongside the others. He eventually mails the remaining funds to the relay service and is released as news of the company's crimes breaks.
- First release year
- 2024
- Runtime (minutes)
- 112
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- David Mackenzie
- Writers
- Justin Piasecki · writer
- Cast and characters
- Riz Ahmed · Ash; Lily James · Sarah Grant; Sam Worthington
- Genres
- thriller
- Themes
- corporate corruption; anonymity
- Tone and mood
- tense; moody
- Setting
- New York City, Pittsburgh, and various locations across the United States.
- Premise and plot tags
- whistleblowing; surveillance; corporate espionage
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Broker
- Content notes
- alcoholism
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews and was praised for its tense atmosphere and performances, though some critics noted flaws in the plot's logic and certain musical choices.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 70 · scale: 100 · review count: 28
- Production trivia
- The screenplay was originally titled 'The Broker'.; The script was featured on the 2019 Black List.; The film features a score by Tony Doogan.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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