If you don't know who Riz Ahmed is, he is a British actor of Pakistani descent. He did some critically acclaimed, British films before being cast in big-budget, Hollywood productions, franchises, such as Jason Bourne and Star Wars. He won an Emmy Award for his role in HBO's The Night Of (2016). At that time, he was also working as a music artist, producing rap albums mostly. He would then go on to be nominated for Best Actor at the 93rd Academy Awards for his role in Sound of Metal (2020), a film in which he played a music artist. Ahmed would go on to win an Oscar at the 94th Academy Awards for Best Live Action Short Film for his concept piece that accompanied his album The Long Goodbye (2020).
Not only as an artist but also an activist, researchers in the UK developed what's known as "The Riz Test," which is not a test of charisma, even though Ahmed isn't lacking in that department. It's a way of measuring representation of Muslims in the arts, particularly in film and television. It's meant to push back on stereotypes that have portrayed Muslims as terrorists, misogynistic or anti-modern. Ahmed is the lead of this film, so it obviously passes his own test, as it depicts a Muslim as a three-dimensional person. It just so happens to be within the spy drama genre.
Arguably, Ahmed has been in espionage films before. Jason Bourne (2016) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) are the two biggest examples. Yet, he's been in others that might not have passed "The Riz Test" because they've been about portraying Muslims as nothing but terrorists, if even in a satirical way. Interestingly, this espionage film has nothing to do with terrorism, and it involves spy craft that I've never seen before and that feels supremely clever, marking the screenwriter here, Justin Piasecki, as being very clever.
Ahmed plays a man named Ash but who goes by various aliases and who has a singularly unique job. He helps whistleblowers who have corporate documents that could prove malfeasance. John helps these whistleblowers to negotiate deals that allows them to return the documents and avoid any legal action or any physical harm. John's clients are those that were employed by huge corporations like pharmaceutical companies that could go as far as killing the whistleblowers in order to keep them quiet.
How John does the negotiations is through unique spy craft. When that spy craft is revealed, it's almost as if the screenwriter were inspired by Ahmed's Oscar-nominated performance in Sound of Metal, in which Ahmed portrayed a man who was going deaf. Here, Ahmed's character of Ash isn't deaf but he knows American Sign Language or ASL, and his spy craft utilizes a service that was developed for deaf or hearing-impaired people. It's called a "relay service." It allows deaf people to use a teletypewriter, or today any mobile phone that can send text messages. Those text messages go to an operator at the relay service who then reads the messages aloud. The operator's voice becomes the voice of the deaf person or even a person who has a speech impediment. This service is free and legally available to anyone, not just the disabled, so Ash uses it to negotiate deals with and for the whistleblowers. He does so to maintain his anonymity because calls to relay services can't be traced nor does the relay service keep logs or records of who calls them.
Lily James (Cinderella and Wrath of the Titans) co-stars as Sarah Grant, a scientist who used to work for a company called Cybo Sementis, which is creating a pesticide that might be dangerous to humans, or it puts food safety in jeopardy. Sarah took documents that can prove this. She wanted to be a whistleblower, but she has since changed her mind. She goes to a lawyer who recommends that she use Ash's services. She's paranoid. The film conveys that paranoia, as she realizes people are following her and possibly want to kill her. Ash keeps an eye on Sarah from a good enough distance, but he makes it his mission to find out who is following her.
Sam Worthington (Wrath of the Titans and Avatar) also co-stars as "Steve Dawson," which is likely not his real name. He works for the company that wants the documents back. He has no clue who Ash is. He doesn't even know Ash's name. Thanks to the relay service and other spy craft, Ash sends Steve and his associates on a wild goose chase, not only in New York City but also throughout the United States, thanks to the airport and a clever use of the United States Postal Service. It's a fun, thrilling chase.
Ahmed proves why he's Oscar-nominated for acting. Because Ash only communicates through the relay service, he doesn't really speak. His dialogue is typed and then conveyed through the vocal expressions of other people, not him. He uses the teletypewriter for the majority of the time, so Ahmed's performance is mainly in his facial expressions and body language. There's even a scene where he's talking to a deaf person and he uses mostly ASL, so again it's mostly just facial expressions and literal body language. Ash is first presented as this methodical person who seems very detached and lonely, purposefully. His icy nature though slowly thaws as the film progresses. He does get a bit of dialogue, which helps to reveal his motivations and reasons for what he's doing. Ahmed is beautifully empathetic in those scenes and solidifies him as a pretty smooth action star.
Rated R for language.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 52 mins.
In theaters.