Rye Lane had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2023, and was released in cinemas in the United Kingdom on 17 March 2023 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film received critical acclaim, with praise for Jonsson's and Oparah's performances, the film's direction, style, and originality.
Plot
In South London, Yas encounters Dom crying in a gender-neutral toilet at an art exhibition about mouths organised by their mutual friend Nathan. They meet again in the exhibition, and walk through the Rye Lane Market together, bonding over Dom's experience with a failed relationship: Dom was recently cheated on by Gia, his girlfriend of six years, with his best friend Eric and has moved back in with his parents. Dom meets with Gia and Eric at a restaurant for the first time since the breakup; Yas impulsively joins them, posing as Dom's new lover. They pretend to have met while singing karaoke, and leave Gia bewildered.
Dom and Yas have lunch at a tortilla shop. Yas reveals she has recently broken up with her boyfriend Jules, citing his propensity to not wave at tourists on boats as a red flag. When Yas recounts that she has forgotten her copy of A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory at Jules's flat, Dom proposes that they steal her record back. They visit Jules's mothers' house in order to retrieve a key to his flat, but when Dom is caught looking for the key in a panty drawer by Jules's mothers, he is kicked out. Outside, Yas admits she started hanging out with Dom at first because she felt sorry for him, but came to enjoy their time together and even turned down a job interview that afternoon.
After one of Jules's mothers lends her moped to Yas, she and Dom go to Mona's karaoke bar for Jules's key. In exchange for the key, they must sing karaoke. They sing "Shoop" and Yas kisses Dom afterwards. Breaking into Jules's flat, Yas is furious that Jules's new girlfriend can leave her menstrual cup out when he would not allow her to do so. Dom and Yas get caught by Jules and his girlfriend, and accidentally break Jules's art on their way out. Jules reveals that he was actually the one who broke up with Yas, and Dom is upset that she lied to him. The two fight and Yas throws away her record.
Months pass, with the two going on dates with other people and struggling to forget each other. Yas finally lands a job as a costume designer on a film set while Dom moves out of his parents' house. While attending Nathan's next art exhibition about anuses, Dom receives a phone call from Yas, who makes a grand romantic gesture by waving to Dom from a boat on River Thames. He waves back at her through the window and runs to meet her. After waiting for the boat to land, the two embrace and passionately kiss.
Colin Firth makes an uncredited cameo appearance in the film as a tortilla chef in a restaurant called Guac'tually, a reference to Love Actually.[6]
Production
Principal photography was underway in London in April 2021, when it was revealed that Nathan Bryon had written his first feature film script with Tom Melia, under the working title Vibes & Stuff.[7] Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo of DJ Films and Damian Jones of Turnover Films produced the film, with assistance and funding from BBC Film, the British Film Institute (BFI), and Searchlight Pictures.[1] It was also revealed in April 2021 that Vivian Oparah and David Jonsson would star in the film.[7]
Jones sent Raine Allen-Miller an invitation to direct the film as suggested by Eva Yates, a BBC Films executive producer who knew Allen-Miller through her 2018 short film Jerk. After boarding the project, Allen-Miller helped to develop the script with Bryon, Melia, and script editor and executive producer Sophie Meyer.[8] Other executive producers include Rose Garnett, Kristin Irving, Paul Grindey, and Charles Moore.[9]
The film was originally going to be set in Camden, North London, before Allen-Miller changed the locations to Brixton and Peckham.[10] Filming locations included the restaurant Coal Rooms, Rye Lane Market, the grocery store Nour Cash & Carry in Brixton Village, the chicken shop Morley's, the Italian restaurant Il Giardino, Brockwell Park, and Peckhamplex.[11]
Release
Rye Lane had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2023.[12] Following its UK premiere at Peckhamplex in London on 8 March 2023,[13] the film was released in cinemas in the United Kingdom on 17 March by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.[14][15] On 31 March 2023, the film was released on Hulu by Searchlight Pictures in the United States, on Star+ in Latin America and on Disney+ in countries including Canada and Australia.[2][16] It began streaming on Disney+ in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 3 May 2023.[17]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 138 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Good news, rom-com fans: Anyone looking for a smart, funny, and heartwarming new addition to the canon can find it waiting on Rye Lane."[18]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[19]
Robert Daniels of The Playlist wrote, "Not since Spike Lee introduced the world to Bed–Stuy, has a Black director so seamlessly embedded viewers into the verve and flavor of their neighborhood."[20] The Observer critic Mark Kermode described the film as a "hugely enjoyable romp that effortlessly combines the 'limited time' romcom format of Richard Linklater's Before trilogy with the in-your-face visual cheekiness of Peep Show".[21]
