{"id":31875,"date":"2025-08-20T23:08:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T06:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=31875"},"modified":"2025-08-20T23:08:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T06:08:32","slug":"relay-delivers-late-summer-season-thrills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=31875","title":{"rendered":"RELAY Delivers Late Summer Season Thrills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Running Time: 112 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from Bleecker Street will be playing\nexclusively at movie theaters on August 22nd<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After years of working as a movie critic, one tends to see\npatterns in the way movies are released. There are typically pockets in the\nearly year and late summer when misfit titles are released. A number of these\nfilms typically end up being flawed efforts. But I\u2019m happy to announce that\nthis year there have been a few surprises. One of the biggest is Relay<\/em>,\na very effective independent thriller from director David Mackenzie (Hell or\nHigh Water<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The story follows a loner who goes by the name of Tom (Riz\nAhmed). He works as a \u201cfixer\u201d, acting as an anonymous liaison to provide\nsupport to corporate whistleblowers and help broker deals between clients and\ntheir furious, potentially dangerous employers. While helping ex-pharma company\nemployee Hoffman (Matthew Maher) complete a deal with executive McVie (Victor\nGarber), we see that Tom has very specific rules that he lives by. For the\nsafety of all involved, he keeps his distance from all parties. The lead even\nuses a relay telecommunications service for the deaf to secretly advise and\ndeliver messages between those involved without getting physically involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon after, panicked biotech scientist Sarah (Lily James)\nleaves Tom a message. She explains that she was fired from a project when\ntrials revealed disturbing data about the product\u2019s potential side effects.\nAfter receiving threats from the corporation and its team of agents, led by\nDawson (Sam Worthington), Sarah now wants to return incriminating documents in\nher possession and be left alone. Tom agrees to help, but Sarah\u2019s fear and\nnervousness ends up causing complications. The protagonist, who finds himself\ndeveloping a connection with the woman, must decide whether to break his own\nrules in order to protect her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Yes, this all sounds like a familiar thriller plotline, but\nthe material is delivered in a more convincing and exciting manner than\nanticipated. The first act focuses on the low-key Tom and how he keeps himself\nprotected from menacing figures who are willing to do anything to retrieve\nevidence on them. Tom\u2019s methods are fascinating to watch. So much so that I\nlooked some of these services up after my screening and learned that, yes,\nseveral are quite real and perform the very duties depicted in the movie. There\u2019s\nan air of authenticity in this movie that captivates early on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sarah is in great danger from the outset, and the movie soon\nbecomes a battle of wits between Tom and the Dawson team, with the scientist\nright in the middle. As she gets herself into more and more trouble, the\nprotagonist also begins to open up with an acquaintance about his own past, how\nhe came into this line of work, and the responsibility he feels for their\nwell-being. As Tom starts replying to more personal messages sent by Sarah, he\nfeels even more accountable for her safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything in the first two-thirds of the movie works\nperfectly and is very tense. Various characters make big moves to reveal their\ntarget. There is a sense of paranoia to the proceedings as well, as these\nindividuals attempt to catch each other., often crossing paths without even\nknowing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The story does eventually become more conventional, as the\nstress of the situation causes a character or two to depart from their routine\nand make errors in the process. While it\u2019s a little frustrating to watch in the\nmoment, the challenges they encounter do lead to efficient and well-realized\naction (including a confused pick-up\/drop-off in a public location), as well as\na clever climax and finale that pays all of the story elements off in a\nsatisfying way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Admittedly, there are familiar bits and pieces in this\nthriller, but the performances, as well as the attention to detail and way in\nwhich the material is presented, results in excitement. The cast and filmmaker\nmaximize the screenplay to its fullest potential, allowing for Relay<\/em> to\ndeliver its message and provide more late summer thrills than many will be\nanticipating.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 112 minutes This feature from Bleecker Street will be playing exclusively at movie theaters on August 22nd. After years of working as a movie critic, one tends to see patterns in the way movies are released. There are typically pockets in the early year and late summer when misfit titles are released. A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":31879,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[216,697,2975,5320,12414,13445,16833,16834,16835,16836,17096,17572,22825,23763],"class_list":["post-31875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-216","tag-action","tag-bleecker-street","tag-david-mackenzie","tag-lily-james","tag-matthew-maher","tag-relay","tag-relay-film-review","tag-relay-movie-review","tag-relay-review","tag-riz-ahmed","tag-sam-worthington","tag-thriller","tag-victor-garber"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31875\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}