Rye Lane (2023)
April 1, 2023 1:30 AM - Subscribe
Two twenty-somethings, both reeling from bad break-ups, connect over the course of an eventful day in South London – helping each other deal with their nightmare exes, and potentially restoring their faith in romance.
The screenwriters were inspired by When Harry Met Sally but debut director Raine Allen-Miller brought her history of South London to the feature:
“The key was to capture it now,” Allen-Miller says. “It was about going, ‘I’m going to represent a place that I know really well and a place that deserves to be represented correctly.’ Not just in a gritty way where it’s all about crime and sadness, but in a way that feels real and positive. It’s a Black British experience.”
The screenwriters were inspired by When Harry Met Sally but debut director Raine Allen-Miller brought her history of South London to the feature:
“The key was to capture it now,” Allen-Miller says. “It was about going, ‘I’m going to represent a place that I know really well and a place that deserves to be represented correctly.’ Not just in a gritty way where it’s all about crime and sadness, but in a way that feels real and positive. It’s a Black British experience.”
Loved this - charming, visually inventive, snappy, not a slow moment! Really glad I saw this at the cinema, though it was a real shame the reviews in the UK came out *after* its premiere so it didn’t get a proper audience here…
posted by adrianhon at 12:48 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by adrianhon at 12:48 PM on April 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Just saw the trailer and thought, I need to see this.” Looks like a beautiful nerdy Black London film.
I’m notoriously awful at getting around to things but I hope I can drag my homebody arse to the cinema to support this.
posted by Pallas Athena at 9:21 PM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
I’m notoriously awful at getting around to things but I hope I can drag my homebody arse to the cinema to support this.
posted by Pallas Athena at 9:21 PM on April 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
I liked this a lot! The bright colors (when movies are generally looking darker and grungier) were a delight to look at. The leads are appealing and there's some really funny moments throughout. I met someone perfect for me while I was still a mess from being dumped by a terrible person, so this was the most relatable romantic comedy I've ever seen.
posted by creepygirl at 12:11 PM on April 5, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by creepygirl at 12:11 PM on April 5, 2023 [1 favorite]
This was wonderful! The leads are really cute together & have great chemistry (to the point I teared up a couple of times just because it was that sweet) and yes, it's so colorful in a real way! I appreciated the weirdness of it -- it's heightened, but I also remember being in my 20s and just going with where the day/night is taking me. There was something so playful about it, too. It got vulgar in a few spots but it never felt cruel.
I also liked that karaoke was pivotal because I am a firm believer that all great romcoms need some musical scene (or a dance sequence. Or both). I'm not saying it should be a musical -- just someone should be singing at some point. And that "Shoop" karaoke scene was so perfect and wonderful.
I want more people to watch this.
(I also liked that their exes weren't necessarily terrible people but just wrong for them. Or not good enough for them, rather. They ended up with people they deserved because they did not deserve Dom or Yas.)
posted by edencosmic at 4:58 PM on April 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
I also liked that karaoke was pivotal because I am a firm believer that all great romcoms need some musical scene (or a dance sequence. Or both). I'm not saying it should be a musical -- just someone should be singing at some point. And that "Shoop" karaoke scene was so perfect and wonderful.
I want more people to watch this.
(I also liked that their exes weren't necessarily terrible people but just wrong for them. Or not good enough for them, rather. They ended up with people they deserved because they did not deserve Dom or Yas.)
posted by edencosmic at 4:58 PM on April 13, 2023 [4 favorites]
Learnt of the movie via the Empire Podcast.
Really enjoyed and would recommend.
posted by doogyrev at 5:18 PM on April 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Really enjoyed and would recommend.
posted by doogyrev at 5:18 PM on April 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Oh this was an absolute delight. I really want more people to see this! Can’t believe it’s the filmmaker’s first feature length. The two leads have wonderful chemistry. It was such a kind movie, too. Even the villainous exes were, as edencosmic said, just wrong for them and undeserving of them, so they ended up with people they did deserve.
My lord, Nathan’s terrible, fabulous art. “My friend said I should do toenails next.” Bleagh!
I really enjoyed that most of the movie took place over one day.
And I was very entertained by the surprising and amusing cameo by “Colin” at the Love Guac’tually burrito place.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:26 AM on May 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
My lord, Nathan’s terrible, fabulous art. “My friend said I should do toenails next.” Bleagh!
I really enjoyed that most of the movie took place over one day.
And I was very entertained by the surprising and amusing cameo by “Colin” at the Love Guac’tually burrito place.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:26 AM on May 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Watched it last weekend, and it is a lovely film. The one thing I would like to point out is that this is real London - I mean, it's a stylised, romanticised version of London, but it's what the place actually is like. In my experience Peckham is a bit grubbier, but I suspect you wouldn't notice that so much if you were the characters' age, so that's fine. Most of the time these days the city just turns up in films in order to be destroyed.
(I think even the geography was right - you actually can go from one location to another like the characters did. I expect the filmmakers made a particular point of it - whenever I watch films with London in I usually play a game called You Can't Go There From There.)
posted by Grangousier at 2:55 AM on May 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
(I think even the geography was right - you actually can go from one location to another like the characters did. I expect the filmmakers made a particular point of it - whenever I watch films with London in I usually play a game called You Can't Go There From There.)
posted by Grangousier at 2:55 AM on May 12, 2023 [2 favorites]
Finally got a chance to watch this over the weekend and really liked it. The two leads really carried the film with their chemistry.
posted by Julnyes at 10:54 AM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Julnyes at 10:54 AM on June 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
This was enjoyable. It's a bit formulaic but it's executed well with wit and charm. I don't like romcoms generally but I did like this.
I mean, it's a stylised, romanticised version of London, but it's what the place actually is like.
I've never been to London, but I did feel enjoy the, I guess, naturalistic shots of the kinds of places where cities can come together in well, dumpy unflattering ways. I think it was used to fairly good effect by making people stand out more, and it did achieve a nice feeling of how their drama was laid across all these places, with both the buildings and the background focused somewhere else, that felt more like what it's like to be a denizen of a city.
posted by fleacircus at 5:25 PM on January 1
I mean, it's a stylised, romanticised version of London, but it's what the place actually is like.
I've never been to London, but I did feel enjoy the, I guess, naturalistic shots of the kinds of places where cities can come together in well, dumpy unflattering ways. I think it was used to fairly good effect by making people stand out more, and it did achieve a nice feeling of how their drama was laid across all these places, with both the buildings and the background focused somewhere else, that felt more like what it's like to be a denizen of a city.
posted by fleacircus at 5:25 PM on January 1
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posted by Gin and Broadband at 1:31 AM on April 1, 2023 [2 favorites]