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Dom (David Jonsson) and Yas (Vivian Oparah) in Rye Lane.
Chris Harris/Searchlight Footage
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Chris Harris/Searchlight Footage
Dom (David Jonsson) and Yas (Vivian Oparah) in Rye Lane.
Chris Harris/Searchlight Footage
The meet-cute in Rye Lane happens in a public restroom at a mutual pal’s artwork present, although not in a dirty-sexy type of method; it is really fairly awkward. Dom (David Jonsson) is perched on a rest room seat, having an enormous cry over an ex-girlfriend, when Yas (Vivian Oparah) overhears his unhappy whimpers echoing from the opposite aspect of a stall. Is he alright? she inquires of the blubbering stranger. Barely irritated, he brushes her off – “Making an attempt to have a non-public second right here,” he says unironically – however a couple of minutes later, after Dom has lastly pulled himself collectively sufficient to mingle, they’re going to unwittingly meet once more, this time face-to-face within the gallery. And, as this stuff in rom-com land can reliably go, witty banter turns right into a day of bonding over shared musical tastes and previous heartbreaks, plus an impromptu karaoke session.
Raine Allen-Miller’s extraordinarily charming directorial debut Rye Lane, with a screenplay by Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia, is a British rom-com that feels recent whereas cloaking followers of the style in a heat, soothing blanket of familiarity. Will our central couple begin to fall for one another, solely to face some huge existential impediment that briefly pulls them aside earlier than a grand gesture lastly brings them again collectively once more? After all – that journey is why many people hunt down rom-coms within the first place! However on this specific journey of Dom and Yas, there’s additionally one thing particular right here; the fabric strikes a stability between specificity and broad humor that fosters confidence and playfulness that is inconceivable to withstand.
As with earlier generations of younger and extremely emotional twentysomethings, Dom and Yas are firmly at that in-between stage in life the place they’re stumbling into “adulting”: Dom, an accountant, just lately moved again in along with his dad and mom after breaking apart along with his ex Gia (Karene Peter), who cheated on him along with his greatest pal Eric (Benjamin Sarpong-Broni); Yas can also be recent from a breakup, and struggling to interrupt into the costume design trade. Every has their methods of coping with their respective roadblocks – she buries her insecurities below fake self-assuredness, whereas he wallows in self-pity – and in a not-unusual dynamic, they provide assist and recommendation to 1 one other but appear oblivious as to easy methods to recover from their very own hang-ups.
This propels the romp and their acquaintanceship ahead as they make their method via a collection of mini-adventures round bustling South London and the closely Afro-Caribbean communities embedded inside it. This contains an impromptu double “date” with Gia and Eric – during which Yas tags alongside and pretends to be Dom’s new lady to make them jealous – and a quest to steal again Yas’s Low Finish Concept vinyl from her pompous ex’s pad. These experiences are rendered vividly, generally via theatrical set-pieces evoking the outsized depth of the characters’ emotions, like Yas’s recounting of how she ended issues together with her ex, which is actually offered on a stage to an viewers made up of a plurality of Dom clones hanging on each element of her story. Different occasions, the movie’s off-kilter sensibilities manifest via cinematographer Olan Collardy’s occasional use of a fisheye lens to distort perspective or via a intelligent nod to a beloved rom-com through a shock cameo.
It is the type of film that oozes stylistic aptitude in almost each body however would not skimp on the storytelling and world-building. A lot of this may be attributed to the grounded performances of Jonsson and Oparah, who coolly feed off the opposite’s power and naturally slip into the getting-to-know-you vibes. Whether or not as mates or one thing extra, it is easy to see their characters’ considerably opposed personalities meshing nicely collectively. There’s additionally a transparent sense of place and the way Dom and Yas transfer via it; their eclectic community of artist mates, members of the family, and ex-lovers are memorable and distinct even when they present up for a single scene. (Eric, specifically, is completely That Dude we have all encountered in some unspecified time in the future or one other, a pitch-perfect embodiment of the good-looking dimwit who’s simply right here to have an excellent time, mate!)
What Rye Lane gives, then, is a vibrant addition to the rom-com canon that will think of an array of visible and thematic reference factors, from the Earlier than Dawn trilogy and When Harry Met Sally to Hype Williams-directed music movies and Spike Lee’s immersive New York Metropolis-set movies. But it additionally carves out an area all its personal, making a story and characters that really feel wholly lived in, messy, and simply plain cool. If we’re really within the midst of a revival of the style, this is among the new batches that rises to the highest.
Rye Lane is streaming on Hulu starting March 31.
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