Relay

Relay

Year: 2025

Runtime: 1 h 52 m

Language: english

Director: David Mackenzie

Echo Score: 64
ActionThriller

Riz Ahmed plays a world‑class fixer who brokers payoffs between corrupt corporations and the individuals threatening their ruin. He shields his identity with meticulous planning and follows a strict code. When a desperate client, Lily James, seeks his protection to stay alive, his rules bend, pulling him into danger and the fallout of his covert deals.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Relay (2025)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Relay (2025). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Early 2000s, post-9/11 era

Set in the post-9/11 era, the film mirrors the era’s heightened scrutiny and corporate unease. The timeline threads through a high-stakes merger, witness intimidation, and the fragile process of exposing wrongdoing. Personal histories, including Ash’s drinking, color the urgency of every decision.

Location

New York City, Newark, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma

The action centers on New York City, with a key warehouse scene in Newark and pivotal movement via trains to outlying locations. Pittsburgh and Oklahoma appear as destinations in the document handoffs and misdirections that drive the chase. The story unfolds within a dense cross‑border, tri‑state urban fabric where corporate crime and whistleblowing collide.

🗽 Urban setting 🕵️ Espionage atmosphere 🔒 Corporate power

Last Updated: October 05, 2025 at 08:38

Main Characters – Relay (2025)

Meet the key characters of Relay (2025), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Ash (Riz Ahmed)

A secretive fixer who brokers dangerous deals between whistleblowers and corporate giants. He operates in the shadows, maintaining anonymity through a relay service and disguises. A recovering alcoholic, he wrestles with guilt while balancing loyalty to clients against a personal code.

🧩 Fixer 🕵️‍♂️ Anonymity 🥃 Addiction

Sarah Grant (Lily James)

A determined whistleblower who planned to expose a cover‑up but faces relentless surveillance and corporate pressure. She evolves into a strategic leader who choreographs handoffs under pressure. Her resilience presses the plot toward a showdown with Optimo.

🧭 Whistleblower 🎯 Strategist 🔒 Surveillance

Dawson (Sam Worthington)

A veteran counterintelligence lead who drives the pursuit to recover the documents. He relentlessly pursues the truth, constrained by legal boundaries and the higher aims of the operation. His team embodies official pressure and procedural stakes.

🧭 Pursuer 🧠 Strategist 🗡️ Threat

Morel (Seth Barrish)

A key corporate figure whose actions threaten to derail the whistleblowing process. His ambition underlines how personal power can destabilize justice and endanger innocents. Morel intensifies the race to control Hoffman’s documents.

💼 Executive 🧩 Manipulator

Hoffman (Matthew Maher)

A conflicted former employee tangled in the cover‑up. His fear of exposure accelerates the dangerous decisions that push the plot toward crisis. He embodies the cost of silence within a high‑stakes corporate environment.

🧑‍💼 Insider 🧭 Moral conflict

McVie (Victor Garber)

CEO at the center of Optimo’s machinations, orchestrating moves to bury incriminating documents. His power and intimidation drive the merger timeline and escalate the moral stakes. A portrait of corporate dominance and risk.

🏢 CEO 🕶️ Control

Wash (Eisa Davis)

A recovering alcoholic and Ash’s AA sponsor who anchors him in a supportive community. He provides moral ballast and a path to redemption, even as danger closes in. Wash’s steadiness offers a counterpoint to the chaos of the pursuit.

❤️ Mentor 🕊️ Redemption

Rosetti (Willa Fitzgerald)

A member of the surveillance team whose tracking skills are crucial to the operation. Her loyalty and method influence the chase and its outcomes. Rosetti’s escape hints at continuing threat beyond the film’s immediate events.

🕵️‍♀️ Tracker 🗺️ Ally

Ryan (Jared Abrahamson)

A counterintelligence operative whose role adds pressure on the operation. He embodies the tension between investigative pragmatism and ethical concerns in the pursuit of a secret.

🧭 Operative 🗃️ Archivist

Lee (Pun Bandhu)

A counterintelligence team member contributing to the tactical pursuit. His involvement heightens the risks around data retrieval and handoffs.

🗡️ Operator 🎭 Dual role

Tariq (Jamil Haque)

An ally in the operation who participates in the network that navigates the documents. He embodies the collaboration necessary to maneuver through corporate intrigue.

🤝 Ally 🧰 Connector

Tony (Jason Nuzzo)

A network member involved in handoffs and risk management. His presence underscores the logistical complexity of moving sensitive information.

⚙️ Logistics 🛰️ Link

Andy (Grant Harrison)

An associate coordinating aspects of the plan and supporting the pursuit. His involvement adds another layer of coordination and risk.

🧭 Planner 🧰 Support

Homeless Woman (Jamie Ann Burke)

A minor but memorable urban figure who colors the city’s texture and serves as a subtle counterpoint to the chase.

🗽 Minor role 🧭 Urban life

Service Agent (Victoria Stevens)

A law enforcement or agency contact who adds official pressure to the pursuit and frames procedural constraints.

🛰️ Official contact 🧭 Bureaucracy

USPS Clerk (Brian O'Neill)

A pivotal support figure who facilitates the flow of documents through everyday channels, marking the motion of information.

📬 Messenger 🗃️ Records

Jim (Lou Liberatore)

A minor urban character who adds texture to the pursuit and the network surrounding the operation.

🏙️ City life 🧩 Supporting

Chair (AA) (David Ryan Smith)

An authority figure in the investigation, whose role heightens the procedural tension and the stakes of pursuit.

🧭 Authority 🧰 Oversight

Newsstand Attendant (Madison Rae Lutz)

A minor but evocative figure grounding the urban setting and daily rhythm around the chase.

🗞️ City life 🧭 Everyday

Bar Waitress (Jessica Marza)

A supporting figure that situates events in bars and night scenes, contributing to the mood and pacing.

🍸 Nightlife 🧭 Atmosphere

Last Updated: October 05, 2025 at 08:38

Major Themes – Relay (2025)

Explore the central themes of Relay (2025), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

💼 Corporate Power

Optimo’s drive to bury incriminating documents shows how profit can override ethics. Whistleblowers are trapped between financial ruin and public exposure, and intermediaries like Ash maneuver through dangerous leverage. The film interrogates who ultimately bears responsibility when corporations bend the law for control.

🕵️ Surveillance & Anonymity

Ash preserves anonymity through relay services and disguises, while Dawson’s team hunts for traces in a system designed to hide them. The pursuit turns on legal barriers that restrict data use, highlighting the fragility of privacy. The cat-and-mouse dynamic probes the limits of surveillance in modern conflict.

🕊️ Redemption & Guilt

Ash’s recovery from alcoholism and his secretive work against wrongdoing frames a personal arc of guilt and potential redemption. The narrative links post‑9/11 trauma to moral choices, showing how fear and loyalty shape behavior. The ending hints at doing the right thing at a personal cost.

🎭 Identity & Disguise

Disguises and forged identities propel the plot, as characters work undercover to move documents and avoid detection. The simultaneous layering of trust and deception keeps the audience guessing who is guiding the handoffs. The symphony handoff and misdirection illustrate how perception can be manipulated as a tool of strategy.

Last Updated: October 05, 2025 at 08:38

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Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

High-stakes conspiracy thrillers like Relay

Lone operatives race against powerful enemies to expose a hidden truth.If you enjoyed the tense, fast-paced corporate espionage and moral conflicts in Relay, you'll find more movies like it here. This list features similar thrillers where lone fixers, whistleblowers, or investigators take on powerful, corrupt systems while navigating a world of constant danger and surveillance.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative follows a protagonist, often an expert or insider, who discovers a dangerous secret. They are forced to go on the run, using their wits and specialized skills to stay alive while attempting to expose the conspiracy. The journey is a series of narrow escapes, strategic moves, and escalating confrontations with a formidable, well-resourced adversary.

Why These Movies?

Movies in this thread share a core DNA of high-tension cat-and-mouse chases against systemic power. They create a coherent experience through their fast pacing, high intensity, and a pervasive sense of paranoia, often culminating in a victory that is personally costly but publicly impactful.

Movies about morally conflicted redemption like Relay

Skilled but broken experts risk everything for one last chance at absolution.For viewers who liked the heavy emotional weight and bittersweet redemption arc of the fixer in Relay, this collection gathers films with similar themes. Explore stories of skilled but compromised anti-heroes who take on one last dangerous job that offers a path to personal salvation, often at a great price.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative arc is one of atonement. A protagonist, defined by their proficiency in a shadowy or violent world, is given an opportunity to use their skills for good. This journey is as much an internal battle with addiction, guilt, or past trauma as it is an external fight for survival, leading to a conclusion where survival feels like a Pyrrhic victory.

Why These Movies?

These films are grouped by their focus on a specific character archetype and emotional journey. They share a heavy emotional weight, a tone of moral conflict, and a bittersweet resolution where redemption is achieved but is deeply intertwined with sacrifice and loss.

Unlock the Full Story of Relay

Don't stop at just watching — explore Relay in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Relay is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Relay Summary

Read a complete plot summary of Relay, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.

Relay Summary

Relay Timeline

Track the full timeline of Relay with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

Relay Timeline

Relay Ending Explained

What really happened at the end of Relay? This detailed ending explained page breaks down final scenes, hidden clues, and alternate interpretations with expert analysis and viewer theories.

Relay Ending Explained

Relay Spoiler-Free Summary

Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of Relay that covers the main plot points and key details without revealing any major twists or spoilers. Perfect for those who want to know what to expect before diving in.

Relay Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Relay

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about Relay: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

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