In the underworld, violating established codes of conduct is a surefire way to court trouble—if not wind up in the morgue.
Riz Ahmed’s middleman learns that lesson at great personal cost in Relay, a noir-y thriller from director David Mackenzie (Hell or High Water) that channels ’70s American cinema for a breakneck tale about a secretive sphere and the complicated processes that govern it. Like the best of its genre, it affords tantalizing entrée into a universe lurking just below society’s surface to which few are privy, and stages engrossing cloak-and-dagger games between players who know the rules and, more dangerously, how to break them.
Written with economical precision by Justin Piasecki, Relay, which hits theaters Aug. 22, is a tale of corporate espionage. That becomes immediately evident thanks to a late-night Manhattan diner meeting between nervous, battered Hoffman (Matthew Maher) and well-dressed McVie (Victor Garber), whose appearance and comportment radiate CEO power.
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