Two New Movies, Indie Romantic Comedy ‘Or Something’ and Thriller ‘Relay,’ Draw on New York’s Gritty Allure

New York City’s streets, parks, plazas, and even its modes of transportation convey a tense allure irresistible to filmmakers, particularly when depicting modern romance or paranoia. Two new releases opening Friday, “Or Something” and “Relay,” provide further ballast to this assertion. In both movies, city settings not only add local color but further character, layering on extra import, allusion, or subtext to many scenes. The former may be an indie romantic comedy with dramatic undertones and the latter an action-thriller starring popular actors, yet the two share commonalities beyond filming in the Big Apple. Both feature a popular New York personality type, the defensive loner, and touch on the theme of addiction. It’s gratifying to note that each is a good movie as well.“Or Something” begins in Brooklyn on a cold December day as its lead characters, Olivia and Amir, “meet cute” outside a brownstone. Except their encounter is anything but cute when Olivia threatens to taser Amir, believing him to be following her. The antagonism doesn’t end there even after the two realize they’re visiting the same person, Teddy, to borrow money. On the subway to Harlem to collect cash owed to Teddy by an individual called Uptown Mike, their conversation turns to male-female relations in a scene that lasts several minutes and sustains interest with its banter and occasional insight. Once uptown, the pair decide to grab lunch and walk in Central Park as they await Teddy’s associate. Expectedly, they soon become aware of some shared traits, like how they might be sapiosexuals. Intellectual stimulation aside, Amir also notices how Olivia is much more seductive than her black fingernail polish suggests, while she takes in how he’s more than a Williamsburg hipster cliche with his mustache and frizzy hair.Mary Neeley and Kareem Rahma in ‘Or Something.’ Via Factory 25A wide range of topics is bandied about between the two, some frivolous and others more serious, such as why they need the money. By the time they recount sad stories from their youth, it’s clear their sensibilities are more than just complementary but congruent — that a real connection is being made. Soon after, Amir impulsively goes into a bar to perform a karaoke version of Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life,” with Olivia eventually joining him, and in their mockery of and delight in the song’s absurdity, their romantic spark is solidified.“Relay” flirts with romance, though it sticks to paranoid thriller mode, à la classic pictures from the 1970s. Protagonist Ash works as a shadowy intermediary between irresolute whistleblowers and corporations. Conducting his business primarily through a relay service and teletypewriter, despite not being deaf or hard of hearing, he maintains his anonymity while ensuring each client gets what is desired, which is frequently money and freedom from harassment for the informant and the recovery of all sensitive documents for the company. Yet when he takes on a scared new client, Sarah, who involves him in a biotech malfeasance case, Ash comes to realize that both she and the company, which deploys a team of investigators/intimidators, require special management.Although they never meet and mostly speak through the impassive relay operators, Ash and Sarah develop a sort of rapport as he maneuvers her through various tasks, such as sending a copy of the stolen documents to the home of her former employer’s CEO. This errand is completed in a fantastic sequence at the Pittsburgh Airport, one of the film’s few locales outside of New York, with Ash trailing Sarah without her knowledge in order to identify her pursuers. As further activities and conversations bring them closer, Ash’s addictive personality and solitude compel him to get more involved with the beautiful and imperiled young woman.This damsel in distress is played by Lily James (“Downton Abbey,” “Cinderella”), and the actress deftly juggles trepidation, mettle, vulnerability, and sensuality. As Ash, Riz Ahmed is the hero and, in addition to referencing some of his past roles — such as his Oscar-nominated turn in “Sound of Metal” — the part allows the actor to highlight his gaunt boyishness and sympathetic eyes while retaining his mystique of stoic intensity. Whether in the guise of a deliveryman, an office executive, or a security guard, Mr. Ahmed is able to portray thoughts and emotions with minimum fuss and verbiage.“Or Something” also stars a Muslim actor, Kareem Rahma, the popular host of the video series “Subway Takes” and “Keep the Meter Running.” The social media star wrote the screenplay with co-star Mary Neely, and both exude an edgy but affable New Yorker-ness. Director Jeffrey Scotti Schroeder makes the most of this realness while enveloping the narrative in a gritty but almost whimsical city milieu. The film ends on a cautionary, downbeat note via an unsurprising revelation, yet what will be remembered is how its blunt pecuniary premise turned into a story of two strangers finding friendship and maybe even love.“Relay” contains a late-stage twist as well, though it doesn’t involve any meddling relay operator. Director David Mackenzie largely pulls it off, even if a climatic sequence at Newark lacks finesse. Still, his staging of a few set pieces in iconic NYC locations such as Times Square thrills throughout. Yet it’s the city’s generally organized chaos and darkly impersonal personality that sticks with you, centering the film at the intersection of surveillance culture, contemporary anxiety, and moral reckoning.

Two New Movies, Indie Romantic Comedy ‘Or Something’ and Thriller ‘Relay,’ Draw on New York’s Gritty Allure

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