Engaging characters and a snaky plot keep us glued to this snappy thriller, which is assembled with plenty of style and energy.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 3, 2025

Even if it does eventually crumble to pieces, it’s a really strong thriller for the large majority of its runtime.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 3, 2025

Relay may be one of the most gripping movies of the year despite its dry premise thanks to mesmerising central performances and slick direction.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 3, 2025

A couple of plot holes notwithstanding , this is pacy, enjoyable stuff -- a crisply edited and pleasingly slippery tale that unfolds in the grubby corners of New York where only bad things happen.

Full Review | Nov 3, 2025

A watchable thriller that boasts a fascinating core concept which updates the classic paranoia thriller it seeks to pay homage to, but the script settles for more conventional plotting and characterisation which dilutes much of its potential.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 2, 2025

It has some of the cool muscularity of a classic Michael Mann movie – and one senses it’s no coincidence that the moment it dawns on Worthington that he’s being watched mirrors the equivalent Al Pacino scene in Heat.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 2, 2025

By the time everyone’s drawn their guns, I was thoroughly invested. Relay is an old-school thriller with a drum-tight script and real style.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 31, 2025

Relay is an effective conspiracy thriller with a resourceful, enigmatic hero using spy-like tradecraft to improvise as a simple plan goes out of whack.

Full Review | Oct 31, 2025

Relay finds a balance between intelligence and entertainment, making for a bracing thriller that cuts through both surveillance culture and corporate responsibility.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 31, 2025

Relay is highly watchable, not least for the always impressive Ahmed.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 31, 2025

There are some very coolly orchestrated scenes in the big city and Mackenzie ratchets up the tension in style.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 29, 2025

A film that reaches for the intelligence and elegance of its influences, even if it doesn’t quite grasp them. It may not redefine the genre, but it reminds you what a grown-up thriller can look like when it aims high.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 29, 2025

With Ahmed and James’ connection holding it together, this is a tight, tense throwback to the paranoid thrillers of yesteryear that just about sticks the landing.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 28, 2025

The resulting film is pleasurably old school in its twists and turns, but in Ahmed’s character it also offers a slyly ironic portrait of the isolation of the digital age: Ash is an analogue guy not because he wants to be, but because he has to be.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 28, 2025

Indeed, we can accomplish quite a bit by focusing on each other first and the institutions second, just as any film worth watching — like Relay — focuses on its human thrust before the puzzle of the plot.

Full Review | Oct 24, 2025

A sober, tense thriller with precise direction and strong performances that quietly grips you until the end.

Full Review | Oct 15, 2025

The ride is so engaging that you think it can’t last. And, unfortunately, it can’t.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 13, 2025

Loaded with wit and twists that will keep you glued to your seat. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 26, 2025

Relay delivers a stylish, slow-burn thriller with Riz Ahmed’s compelling performance, but a jarring final twist weakens an otherwise tense, meticulously crafted story of trust, deception, and corporate intrigue.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Sep 20, 2025

Riz Ahmed and Lily James stand out in David Mackenzie’s mostly solid paranoid thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 16, 2025