Don’t let the fact that “Relay” is jogging quietly into theaters in the dog days of summer fool you.

The latest effort from “Hell or High Water” director David Mackenzie is a smart and engaging thriller, one benefiting from a compelling yet understated performance by one of its stars, the highly talented Riz Ahmed.

An Academy Award nominee for his performance in 2019’s “Sound of Metal” as a rock drummer who loses his hearing, Ahmed here portrays Ash, a recovering alcoholic who works in the shadows as a middleman helping would-be whistleblowers reach financial settlements with nefarious corporate types.

Coincidentally, New Yorker Ash uses older technology designed to help the deaf communicate to interact anonymously with his clients via The Tri-State Relay Service. That entity is ideal f

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