Relay stars Lily James and Riz Ahmed in a suspense thriller. The premise is interesting and a little unusual. It’s based on a reverse whistleblower plot and uses TTY relay services to do everything anonymously.

Relay sets up a world where potential whistleblowers with evidence decide they don’t want to release the evidence. Instead they want to return it, never say a word, and take a payoff for their silence. Ash (Riz Ahmed) is in the business of negotiating these reverse whistleblowing deals.

Ash has an elaborate system set up so his clients never know who he is or see him. He uses TTY relay services to communicate with his clients. He has extensive security and safeguards to protect himself and his clients. He splits the money with the clients when they receive the payoff.

Sarah (Lily James) gets his number from a lawyer. Ash agrees to help her return some documents she has about genetically modified wheat with deadly side effects.

I thought his methods of staying undetected were really clever. He used multiple burner phones, phony post office boxes, hidden safe houses, and more to stay behind the scenes. His paranoia served him well.

In spite of all his precautions, the company Sarah worked for had people following her. Sam Worthington, Willa Fitzgerald, Jared Abrahamson, and Pun Bandhu play these annoying bad guys. In addition, Ash’s AA sponsor Wash (Eisa Davis) played an important role.

There was a twist at the end that was rather clumsily foreshadowed, but it made for a satisfying ending. Overall this was a tense, well-paced, and different suspense movie. You can see this one on Netflix.

Have you watched it? What did you think?