Relay is not the kind of film we see much of anymore, and it’s all the better for it. It’s a love letter to analog, heavily featuring record players, phone calls, and snail mail — but it’s not just paying lip service. It builds its central conceit on the shoulders of the ‘70s thrillers that thrive in paranoia, and uses a piece of bygone tech to enhance its narrative.
Relay follows a mysterious “fixer” (Riz Ahmed) who brokers deals between would-be corporate whistleblowers and the untouchable conglomerates they could potentially expose. Rather than helping them get the truth out, however, Ahmed’s Ash acts as a middleman for those who get cold feet. Through him, whistleblowers can cleanly buy their silence and return the intel to their former employers — all through analog infrastructure.
