Rye Lane

A thoroughly charming British rom-com that showcases some great up-and-coming talent both in front and behind the camera, and which also feels like an authentic and genuine love letter to South London.

Premise:  Dom (David Jonsson) and Yas (Vivian Oparah) meet by chance at an art exhibition for a mutual friend, but as they spend the day together on their journey back home through Rye Lane Market in South London, they begin to open up about unresolved issues from their recent breakups.

Review:

Whereas last year’s Ticket to Paradise was an old-school – and intentionally cheesy (in a good way) – screwball romcom, Rye Lane is a much more subtle affair.  That’s not to say that it’s not funny (this is definitely a romcom, rather than a dramady), but the humour is low-key, character-based and sweet-natured – in other words, don’t expect any big comedic set-pieces involving someone getting lost in a rainforest or attacked by a shark in this movie.

For the most part, romcoms today often either feel like cheap straight-to-streaming fodder, or bland by-the-numbers efforts. Rye Lane, on the other hand, may feel like it plays with familiar tropes and cliches, but it somehow manages to do so in a fresh and original way.  This is due in no small part to the film’s wonderful sense of time and place.  Rye Lane is one of those romcoms where it follows the events of a single day, and shows a fledgling relationship developing from an unexpected instant connection – so think One Fine Day or Before Sunrise, only set across Peckham and Brixton.

“…David Jonsson & Vivian Oparah are both great…”

The story follows Dom and Yas, played by newcomers David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah, as they decide to walk home from an art exhibition together following a chance meeting.  Dom is struggling in the aftermath of a messy breakup with his long-term girlfriend Gia, who cheated on him with his best friend, and when we first meet him, he’s crying rather pathetically in a public toilet at the thought of having to meet up with Gia again later that morning.  Yas, on the other hand, appears much more outwardly confident when we meet her, but she is struggling to get her career off the ground after having dumped her unappreciative boyfriend.

David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah are both great, and although the film is almost a two-hander for the most part (with other characters just flitting in and out as they cross paths with the main duo), they are more than up to the challenge.  David Jonsson makes sure that there’s more to Dom than just a mopey dumped boyfriend, while Vivian Oparah ensures that Yas has her own life and dreams outside of simply empowering and enabling Dom.  And although the supporting cast all have relatively limited screentime, they make it count, with Benjamin Sarpong-Broni in particular standing out with a memorable comedic performance as Dom’s utterly clueless former best friend.

“…a wonderfully charming romcom…”

But not only does Rye Lane showcase some great up-and-coming British talent in front of the camera, it should also act as a calling card for those involved behind-the-scenes too.  The script came from TV writers Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia, who until now were probably best known for the excellent sitcom Bloods.  Rye Lane is also the directorial debut of Raine Allen-Miller, who does a fantastic job of bringing the film to life – not only in terms of keeping the “action” (i.e. two people chatting as they walk through South London) visually interesting, but also in terms of capturing the vibrancy and idiosyncrasies of everyday life in Peckham and Brixton.

All in all, Rye Lane is a wonderfully charming romcom.  It took me about 20 minutes or so to really get in sync with its sense of humour, but by the time Dom arrived at the restaurant to see Gia, I was absolutely hooked.  Not only is Rye Lane funny and touching, but it also feels like a fresh and inventive take on the romcom formula, showing off a side of British culture that normally gets overlooked by the genre.