2025 was one of the best years in movie history, perhaps the best of the 21st Century, as witnessed by the competition in the 2026 awards season, where no contender seems to have a genuine monopoly. So, it is hardly surprising that there are many underrated movies from 2025 that have flown under people’s radars despite being worthy of acclaim.
From Cillian Murphy to Saoirse Ronan, many of the greatest actors currently working in the industry didn’t attract much attention despite leading compelling dramas. Since movies in a variety of genres won over crowds and critics, the typical entertaining genres underperformed in 2025. A list of the best thriller movies of 2025 cannot possibly do justice to last year’s releases.
Riz Ahmed has become one of the most dependable character actors in Hollywood over the years, including a Best Actor-nominated performance in the Best Picture nominee, Sound of Metal. However, the thriller movie he leads alongside other noteworthy Hollywood actors went surprisingly unnoticed last year. Since the release of quality movies has slowed, now’s the ideal time to watch it.
Riz Ahmed Is The Lead Actor In Relay
Directed by David Mackenzie, Relay stars Riz Ahmed in the lead role of Ash, who helps unwilling witnesses of sensitive information guarantee silence to corporations in exchange for money and safety. The movie opens with a man returning sensitive documents to his employer and nervously leaving while Ash watches out for his safety on his return home on the train.
The next person to employ Ash’s services is in a particularly stressful situation, as she’s constantly being watched closely by a group of corporate spies looking to recover the stolen files from her. She is nervous initially, but is able to follow his considerably confusing instructions, ensuring the safe transfer of files to Ash, unbeknownst to the crew following her.
As reviews of the movie insist, Relay is one of 2025’s most exciting thriller films that would likely have been a bigger box office success if it hadn’t come out with some of the bigger names of the year or had been released in a year with a less stacked roster. Ahmed’s understated performance keeps viewers invested throughout the film.
Relay’s Ensemble Cast Is Surprisingly Stacked
Riz Ahmed co-stars in Relay add more quality to the film with their performances and their character work. Sam Worthington, best known for leading the Avatar franchise, Willa Fitzgerald of Strange Darling fame, and rising Canadian actor Jared Abrahamson play the crew members who follow Ash’s client, Sarah, played by Lily James. Victor Garber joins them in a minor role.
Matthew Maher plays Ash’s previous client with whom the movie begins. The film also stars Eisa Davis as Ash’s sobriety sponsor. The way Riz Ahmed and Lily James create palpable chemistry while rarely being in the same scene speaks to their talent as actors. This stacked cast is how you know Relay will be special, even from the movie’s trailer.
Relay’s Unique Premise Deserves More Attention
Relay gets its name from Ash’s unique mode of operation. To hide his identity, Ash ensures his clients never find out what his voice sounds like. So, he uses relay calling, a service mostly designed for people with hearing loss, to contact his clients. This causes unique difficulties for clients and spies working for the corporations who track their calls.
The movie explores the avenues created by this creative premise, even following Ash and Sarah’s romantic-adjacent dynamic, which they develop through conversations via the relay service without meeting each other. Relay became a streaming hit in the United States on Netflix because the uncommon premise made it popular among fans of the crime thriller genre, which is often very formulaic.
You Can’t Predict Relay’s Final Twist
Around the halfway point, it starts feeling like Relay won’t make the most of its innovative premise, especially because the thriller is straightforward and linear without many editing tricks. In hindsight, this appears to be the co-writers David Mackenzie and Justin Piasecki’s confidence in their screenplay as well as Mackenzie’s confidence in his reliably solid work as the movie’s director.
This is why Relay saves its major plot twist for the final fifteen minutes of the movie, revealing a detail that makes you reassess all the events leading up to it. The lack of fanfare, foreshadowing, and buildup makes the twist particularly effective, as viewers have no means of gussing it, even if they start watching intent on finding signs.
Relay’s Suspenseful Setpieces Are Its Biggest Strength
While Relay‘s premise already makes it a memorable movie, what elevates it as a thriller is the structure of its setpieces. Every major sequence highlights the tension among the characters instead of setting up moments for explosive action. It’s nail-biting in its minimalism as Relay allows the performances and the visuals to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
However, each subsequent is a little more escalated than the last, leading to an action-packed climactic confrontation that the story culminates in, before providing every character a satisfying conclusion. Relay‘s Rotten Tomatoes score of 82% proves that enough critics believe the movie has merit as a thriller. Relay‘s premise may be underutilized, but it is still a solid crime thriller.
