The Negotiator

If a suspense thriller is suspenseful and thrilling, it has succeeded at its job. And that's how I feel about Relay. It hooks you early with a cool premise and never lets go. The story is interesting and filled with intrigue.

I like that it doesn't explain everything. It allows the viewer to figure things out and put the pieces together. And it has a steady increase in intensity and good escalation to the climax. It does come to a fairly abrupt conclusion, but I still found it satisfying.

The entire cast gives good performances, with the standout being the lead, Riz Ahmed. I had a good time with this movie and was happy with its selection for this week's secret movie screening.

(1 viewing, early screening Mystery Movie Monday 8/11/2025)

Relay was an unexpected delight. Saw this at a Screen Unseen AMC preview tonight. I had seen the trailer a few days ago but didn't pay much attention to it, so I went into this completely blind. It harkens back to the 70's paranoid spy thrillers like The Conversation, Three Days of the Condor, and The Parallax View. Sort of a Jason Bourne film without the relentless action for filler. That not to say Relay wasn't tense, because it was. Held my attention from the opening scene to the credits. Riz Ahmed is a criminally underused actor. He commands your attention as the technology brain go-between trying to hold the deal together. Lily James held her own as the damsel in distress whose whistleblower sets the plot in motion. And it's good to see Sam Worthington again in something other than Avatar, as the main corporate security thug whose team is determined to get the corporate documents back. If you're looking for an intense, twist, adult thriller that doesn't insult your intelligence, this if for you.

Honestly I love the concept of this movie, how one finds someone like this idk, but goodness would this be great if it existed. Also relay being a legit service would be amazing, sure it would be crossing some lines and be used by the wrong people, but what a excellent idea for keeping things private and off record. The story and emotions with this one are good, but i predicted the ending at some point along the way. Not enough action for me to want to keep a movie like this in a collection but I truly did enjoy it.

Saw at AMC for movie unseen on 8-11-2025.

We saw this at the mystery movie Monday special at our local theater. We went into it asking each other "what is this?". The movie sets up slowly but man was it worth the wait. I was on the edge of my seat nearly the entire movie. So many good twists, so many close calls, and a very well thought out and untraceable plan on our protagonists end in delivering his messages. The movie was executed amazingly and the end twist involving another character was slightly predictable but overall still very fun and well done. My only regret is not knowing what happened with one of our villains but maybe that is setting up for a second film.

Would absolutely recommend people watch this.

Great concept but felt the movie lacked overall substance and depth. Only lightly touched on some key themes or concepts but didn't dive deep on them resulting in plot points feeling wishy washy. This resulted in the movie having moments where it felt impactful but then it quickly moved on without having that same moment included in other parts of the movie making you question what the point was to include it. This resulted in some timing being off with moments that felt impactful and others that felt boring and making you question.