Relay Blu-ray

Back in 2016, Hell or High Water was a movie I fully anticipated to receive the attention it did. The neo-Western crime drama about brothers robbing banks to save their family ranch seemed to come from nowhere, distributed by the short-lived and largely unremarkable CBS Films and opening outside of what is traditionally considered awards season. None of that mattered because it was just that good a film. It drew four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and in a weaker year, it would have won some of those.

Buy Relay from Amazon.com:
Blu-ray · DVD · Prime Video

That film’s screenwriter Taylor Sheridan went on to become a director and then the creator and showrunner of an entire empire of acclaimed television shows for Paramount, beginning with “Yellowstone” and its prequel series “1883” and “1923” and extending to other embraced series like “Tulsa King”, “Mayor of Kingstown”, “Lioness” and “Landman.”

But what became of Hell or High Water‘s director, David Mackenzie, a Scottish filmmaker who had been working steadily but mostly under the radar since the early 2000s? Well, like many heralded contemporary filmmakers, Mackenzie got work at Netflix, for whom he wrote, directed, and produced 2018’s $120 million budgeted action epic The Outlaw King. It drew mixed reviews and though even now it’s just a few clicks away for Netflix subscribers, it had the short shelf life of most Netflix originals and seemed to slow Mackenzie’s long-coming ascent.

Nearly a decade after his last proper theatrical release, Mackenzie has returned to the director’s chair with a pair of festival debuts. The heist thriller Fuze premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last month, and remains in search of a North American distributor. Meanwhile, Relay, which premiered at Toronto in September 2024, finally made its way to theaters this past August from Bleecker Street. Despite warm reviews and a nearly 1,500-theater count, it struggled to find an audience, a recurring theme for both the ten-year-old indie distributor and unbranded, original, adult-oriented cinema in today’s changing marketplace.

Relay is set in the dangerous and serious world of corporate espionage. Our attentions are on Ash (Riz Ahmed), a New York-based fixer who is tasked with helping would-be whistleblowers and the powerful corporations at risk reach a resolution that is mutually agreeable. We see Ash at work in the opening sequence in which a disenchanted, roughed-up individual (Matthew Maher) gets closure from an unscrupulous executive (Victor Garber) he has come to despise. Ash hangs back, keeps a low profile, and makes sure the client gets home safely.

With Ash’s risky techniques established, our main plot emerges. Sarah Grant (Lily James) has documents revealing the employer that recently laid her off is well aware of the negative side effects brought on by their genetically modified wheat. Reconsidering going public with the cover-up in advance of the company’s imminent multi-billion dollar merger, Sarah gets referred to Ash, who agrees to help her faciliate the document’s return.

Despite their use of burner phones, the trail-free telecommunications relay service for the deaf, and other precautions, both Sarah and Ash are closely and fiercely pursued by a counterintelligence team, led by Dawson (Sam Worthington).

When Relay is good, it is very good and gladly that is most of the time. The film evokes the great Michael Clayton with its subject matter. But unlike George Clooney’s cool, collected corporate problem solver, Ahmed’s characterization calls to mind Gene Hackman in The Conversation: quietly powerful, highly skilled, and racked with guilt and fear. Ahmed revealed himself to be an emerging talent with his Oscar-nominated turn in Sound of Metal, a film with the misfortune of releasing in 2020.

Standing out in an historically weak year, the Emmy-winning actor gave a bright, shining performance that promised bigger and better things. And yet, here we are five years later, and Ahmed has yet to have a follow-up film role worthy of his talent. He won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film for 2022’s The Long Goodbye, a companion piece to his second studio album. And he lent his voice to two animated Oscar contenders: the thrice-nominated documentary Flee and Netflix’s Nimona. But there are so few films and parts of substance to go around these days. The actor is a great fit for Relay and serves it well.

Relay makes for a solid first feature for screenwriter Justin Piasecki, whose barren resume hilariously includes an “additional literary material” for The Expendables 4. The film boasts smart and compelling plotting, keeping you guessing and engaged with its sensible distribution of information. Mackenzie’s direction is also proficient, excelling especially with a flavorful and authentic use of New York City, where the film was unmistakably shot.

Unfortunately, the film’s best moments come well before its end, when it feels obligated to deliver a twist and a moderately unsatisfying resolution. Worthington’s presence and bland villain duties keep reminding you of the kind of mediocre movies he made in the wake of the original Avatar, like Man on a Ledge, something you probably haven’t thought of in fifteen years, if you even did. It’s frustrating for a movie to do so much right only to not stick the landing with a conventional action finale that could not be further from Michael Clayton‘s gut-punch ending.

After narrowly eking past the $3 million mark domestically, Relay hits Blu-ray and DVD from Bleecker Street’s home video partner Decal on October 28th.

BLU-RAY DISC SPECIFICATIONS:
2.35:1 Widescreen
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English), DTS-HD MA 2.0 (Descriptive Video Service)
Subtitles: English for Hearing Impaired, Spanish
Release Date: October 28, 2025
Single-sided, single-layered disc (BD-25)
Blue Keepcase

VIDEO and AUDIO

Relay‘s Blu-ray sports clean 2.35:1 widescreen visuals and a crisp, involving 5.1 DTS-HD master audio soundtrack. Neither facet leaves anything to be desired except for those wishing this turned up on 4K Ultra HD.

BONUS FEATURES, MENUS, PACKAGING and DESIGN

There are no special features, unless you want to count the disc-opening trailers for This Is Spinal Tap II: The End Continues and Bone Lake, neither of which is accessible by menu.

That menu strings together a routine loop of actiony clips with a score excerpt that matches. No inserts are found within the standard blue keepcase.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

A taut and engaging corporate espionage thriller, Relay mostly succeeds as the kind of R-rated movie that has largely disappeared, even if its final act is a tad disappointing. Though sadly barebones, Bleecker Street’s Blu-ray offers the entertaining film with high quality picture and sound.

Buy Relay from Amazon.com:
Blu-ray · DVD · Prime Video