Rye Lane at Rooftop Film Club review

Rom coms have been sorely missing from our media diets for a long while now. As Hollywood regurgitates remakes and blockbuster franchises, the appetite for original and personal stories keeps growing. If you’re hungry for a fresh take on a beloved genre, then a small, independent Black British film may satisfy your craving: Raine Allen Miller’s Rye Lane.

Image: Rye Lane by Rooftop Film Club. Photo by Liberty Martin

Rooftop Film Club invited us to an exclusive showing and Q&A with Miller, Rye Lane’s director, and comedian-actor-rapper Ben Bailey Smith (formerly known as Doc Brown). Filled up on cocktails and artisan pizza, we were treated to a delightfully in-depth conversation about Miller’s creative process for her debut feature film (side note: Smith is an incredibly thoughtful and engaging interviewer). And what better location to host the Q&A than in Peckham, the very setting of the movie.

Image: Miller, Rye Lane’s director, and comedian-actor-rapper Ben Bailey Smith (formerly known as Doc Brown). Photo by Liberty Martin

Rye Lane is about the summery South London day of shenaniganry that Yas and Dom meet (played by Vivian Oparah and David Jonsson respectively). With both protagonists reeling from recent breakups, we follow their escapades across Peckham and Brixton as they confront their exes together. Miller searched for lead actors who were technically strong with a silly sense of humour and, most importantly, had glittering chemistry: “[Vivian] is gorgeous and funny and charming and the same with David. It was interesting meeting them because we fell in love with them straight away. Then I was like, Oh, no, I really want them to have chemistry…  Let's definitely check that. And then it was like, Oh my God, I couldn't wish for more.”

Oparah and Jonsson do a brilliant job finding both the comedy and vulnerability of their characters. Yas, an extroverted, bubbly costume-designer, and Dom, a reserved but endearing accountant, feel like people who I know in real life. It’s a joy watching the two characters’ blooming romance as they coax out the better side of each other during their hijinks, whether that be breaking into an ex’s flat to retrieve a forgotten vinyl record or diving head first into a karaoke rap battle. When casting Vivian, Miller emphasised that she “really wanted her to be a dark skinned black woman”—a deceptively simple but powerful choice when dark skin women are rarely depicted as love interests in film.

A fun meet-cute between dark skin leads isn’t the only under-represented romance in Rye Lane. The film also serves an intimate insider love letter to South London, akin to Do The Right Thing’s Brooklyn or Amélie’s Montmartre. Miller, who was born in Manchester but lived in Brixton, Croydon and Peckham in her formative years, says: “This film is about a day, a nice day in South London. Not every day is nice, but this one is. [It] was a really important thing for me to represent my community and to represent a place that I know well.”

Image: Rye Lane Screening at Rooftop Film Club Bussey Building Peckham. Photo by Liberty Martin

Rye Lane is, as Ben Bailey Smith noted in one of his razor-sharp questions, “a kaleidoscope of colour.”  Reminiscent of Michael Coel’s rambunctious debut sitcom Chewing Gum, which depicts a London council estate with colours that are just as vibrant as its zany occupants, Miller reveals South London’s eccentric side with a palette of bright, saturated hues. So often we see the rough experiences of Black working class London on screen, but we often miss the quirky characters who bring a distinct surreality to these communities. Miller beautifully translates South London’s idiosyncrasy by filling her backdrops with a bustling and unique soundscape and cast of extras—or “background artists,” as she calls them. If you’ve been to the hearts of Peckham or Brixton then you know that something is always happening (for better or worse), so pay attention to the animated surroundings of Rye Lane. Keen viewers will also spot a number of famous cameos sprinkled throughout the movie.

Rye Lane is such a refreshing addition to the canon of rom coms and British hood movies (we haven’t had a comedic hood movie since… Anuvahood? And that was in 2011). It’s lovingly crafted, high-spirited yet authentic, sweet without being sentimental, and hilarious—as proven by the crowd of people laughing in unison at the Rooftop Film Club.

For those looking for cute summer date ideas, Rye Lane will be showing on 14 and 22 June at Rooftop Film Club’s Stratford location. But if you can’t make it down to East London to enjoy Rye Lane on the big screen, you can cuddle up with the movie at home on Disney+.

Words by Liberty Martin