David Farnor | On 31, Dec 2025

Director: David Mackenzie
Cast: Riz Ahmed, Lily James, Sam Worthington
Certificate: 15

It’s been six years since David Mackenzie last took the helm on a movie, with Netflix’s Outlaw King – and here he makes an understated, but riveting, return to the big screen. The film follows Ash (Riz Ahmed), a fixer who helps whistleblowers when they’ve decided to blow the whistle on whatever corporate shenanigans that big firms would rather keep quiet. Sitting somewhere between Michael Clayton and Erin Brockovich, he’s an enigmatic but immediately likeable and honest fellow – which makes his collision with Sarah (Lily James) all the more gripping.

Ash is a man of principle and process, sticking to a strict routine that helps keep his life on track – from staying sober after recovering from alcoholism to never meeting his clients and instead communicating with them through a “relay” phone service that uses text readouts and anonymous middle-persons. Rather than helping them to go public with their scandal, Ash’s role is slightly more slippery – he helps customers return their stolen documents, or other evidence, for a big fee, while also ensuring their safety in the face of nasty corporate intimidation (hello to an entertaining against-type Sam Worthington).

Sarah has some stolen documents and, after experiencing such intimidation herself, is too scared to go ahead with her plan and just wants to escape. Ash agrees to take her on as a client, but Sarah’s scared, vulnerable requests for reassurance – and curiosity about the man who is helping her – starts to blur Ash’s carefully drawn lines.

What ensues is a delightfully old-fashioned thriller that is steeped in paranoia and low-key suspense. The script from Justin Piasecki brilliantly teases out subtle twists and turns, while anchoring everything in a believable connection between two complete strangers. Lily James is excellent as the frightened Sarah, who is as lonely as Ash has been for years – and Riz Ahmed is superb as the focused, ghostlike presence with a personality he tries to bury. The pair spark a natural easy chemistry, even when just exchanging text messages and answerphone recordings. Throughout, director David Mackenzie confidently choreographs their conversations with the same level of suspense as the low-key action sequences that gradually up the stakes with quiet precision.

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