opinion | If you can’t get enough of romantic comedies like “Notting Hill” or “Before Sunrise”, our editor Michael Hille has the perfect streaming tip for you: “Rye Lane”, which started almost unnoticed on Disney+ in spring 2023.
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So many new releases appear on streaming services every week that quite a few simply go under and are hardly noticed. The providers do not advertise the same amount for every new start. And so projects sometimes go under without much attention. At the moment it is particularly unfortunate to see a film that is almost secretly exclusive to Disney+ was published, but now to the Streaming highlights of the year should count: “Rye Lane”.
With a running time of just 81 minutes, “Rye Lane” is one romantic comedy – a genre that in recent years has mostly been plowed into unconvincing Netflix films oozing with clichés. But “Rye Lane” is different: touching, charming, courageous, funny and as light and airy as it is profound.
“Ryan Lane” shows that love can be so random
Searchlight Pictures / Hulu
It won’t be more romantic in 2023: “Rye Lane” makes hearts beat faster.
South London: In the unisex toilet at an art exhibition, aspiring fashion designer Yas (Vivian Oparah) overhears Dom (David Jonsson), the same age, crying bitter tears in the stall next to her. They exchange a few short words. A little later they meet again in the gallery and start a real conversation. Dom says he recently found out his girlfriend cheated on him after dating his best friend for six years. Yas wants to cheer him upbecause she, too, only recently went through a separation that hit her hard mentally.
They spend the day together and take a long walk through the boroughs of Peckham and Brixton, talking about their lives and getting to know each other. And they prove each other friendship services: Dom has an appointment with his ex-girlfriend for dinner in the evening. Yas agrees to accompany him and pose as his new girlfriend. In return, he should accompany her to her ex-boyfriend’s apartment so that she can finally pick up her favorite record there. And at the end of this turbulent day, both of them realize: they really want to see each other again.
Mix of “Notting Hill” and “Before Sunrise”: “Rye Lane”
After a chance acquaintance, two young adults in their mid-twenties spend the whole day together and at the end there is the prospect of “more”? With this structure, “Rye Lane” is of course immediately reminiscent of the 90s romantic classic “Before Sunrise”. But another comparison comes to mindwith a film also set in London that begins with a chance encounter: “Notting Hill”.
“Rye Lane” absolutely stands up to these comparisons – and that’s the amazing thing. The directorial debut by filmmaker Raine Allen-Miller is brimming with wit and creativity. Dom and Yas’ first encounter in the toilet is filmed by her and her cameraman Olan Collardy in such strange and remarkable perspectives that in bright bright colorsthat “Rye Lane” turns out to be an eye-catcher after a few moments.
And what would a romance film be without its leading actors? Vivian Oparah and David Jonsson are both absolute discoveries. The chemistry between the two is downright electrifying, their verbal battles are clever and touching in the right measure. In addition, “Rye Lane” comes up with a degree of well-done situational comedy that you rarely see in this form anymore.
Black love: What makes “Rye Lane” so special
Searchlight Pictures / Hulu
Vivian Oparah and David Jonsson are a new film dream couple thanks to “Rye Lane”.
But what also makes “Rye Lane” look new and fresh is its setting: the two black main actors tease and coo here through Peckham in south London, probably the biggest multicultural district in Great Britain. “Rye Lane” celebrates black love and black life culture, and thus shows a very different London than you often get to see.
Here, too, the comparison with “Notting Hill” is worthwhile: At that time, the gentrified London district of the same name was the ideal backdrop for the innocent love of two white people. Now the real road “Rye Lane” across Peckham serves as Metaphor for a social gap in which the most diverse cultures coexist like in a melting pot and enrich each other – just like Dom and Yas complement each other so perfectly.
“Rye Lane” is an excellently acted, colorfully illustrated and smartly written summer film, in which one can fall in love and which nevertheless never has to slip into kitsch – and also invites you into a subculture that is all too seldom portrayed so lovingly. By the way, look closely at one point: For just a tiny moment, a great British film star, who himself once starred in numerous romantic films, has a guest appearance that fits perfectly into the picture – his scene is at the same time a loving homage to the great role models as well as to them handover to a new generation.
Rye Lane is available on Disney+.
