10/12 ForReel Score | 4/5 Stars

The label “rom-com” for many people can often be perceived as a low-brow form of entertainment - formulaic, light-hearted, perhaps even charming to a fault. It’s a subgenre of film that many, myself included, may feel is oversaturated.

Though Rye Lane is, by definition, a rom-com - romantic in the way that main characters are drawn together, and comedic in the situational circumstances these two characters find themselves wondering through - what Raine Allen Miller offers in her feature directorial debut is a refreshing take on rom-com entertainment with likable characters.

Miller certainly makes a valiant and concerted effort to slot Rye Lane into this more nuanced sense of how we perceive what a rom-com can be. Though the film’s plot points indeed march down the familiar, well-worn path that sees romance discovered, ignited, strained, then redeemed, there’s a certain charisma to Miller’s production; a sense of style and personality that is impossible to ignore, and even harder to not appreciate.

At the start of the film, we find Dom (David Jonsson) weeping in a bathroom stall, still devastated by the months-old breakup he endured when his then-girlfriend left him to date his best friend. Now that some time has passed, he’s only hours away from an arranged meeting with the couple to, as they put it, clear the air, though the double dosage of betrayal is still too close for comfort. But it’s not long before Yas (Vivian Oparah), a confident and adventurous spirit who has recently dealt with a breakup herself, encounters Dom at a mutual friend’s experimental art exhibition. The two strike up a conversation and wander about South London, all the while wrestling with their feelings about their former relationships and the feelings they might be developing for each other.

Vibrancy seems to be the signature style Miller is drawn to in her filmmaking. From Dom’s shoes and Yas’s shoulder bag’s vivid pink glow to the luscious golds and browns in the restaurants to the fluorescent neon colors accenting darker settings, Miller is unabashed about notching the visual saturation. “Everything I do is super colorful,” she explains in Marty Millman’s press line interview with her at the Sundance premiere, “and I’m obsessed with making every frame a painting.”

This objective, she achieves spectacularly. With the aiding of super wide angle cinematography, Rye Lane fits as much of the bright and vibrant sequences into frame as possible. It’s an appropriate approach to visually depicting this story, as Dom and Yas are both bright and vibrant personalities. It is enchanting, in many ways, to watch the two walk and talk their way through learning about each other while generating a captivating chemistry. Just as the colors and visual splendor of Rye Lane radiate on screen, so do Jonsson and Oparah’s performances.

Oparah, in particular, is a showstopper. She strikes a natural balance in being both highly self assured and subject to vulnerability. Oparah offers Yas the ability to handle herself in just about any situation, but also be impacted by heartbreak and insecurity. Her counterpart, too, stretches his acting chops to pull off co-anchoring this film as the main character. In his feature film acting debut, Jonsson manages to bounce of the energy of Oparah, and despite their characters being opposite in so many ways, Oparah and Jonsson make Yas and Dom seem made for each other. Jonsson explains in the Sundance press line, “I don’t consider myself romantic or comedic at all, so instantly it was a challenge for me to find what that is.”

Where Rye Lane may lose some audiences is in the predictable nature of its story. It doesn’t take much guesswork to presume where the narrative is going, save a detail or two that’s eventually revealed regarding character flaws. By the end, anyone familiar with prototypical romance narratives can’t be surprised with how the film concludes. But Rye Lane isn’t about the destination, it’s about the journey - a lesson Yas and Dom learn with each other that is then passed on to the audience.

After all, to negatively judge Miller’s directorial debut for successfully executing a genre trope would be too regressive when assessing the totality of a production that has so much more to admire. There is incredible talent both on screen and behind the scenes that I imagine will continue going on to do greater and greater things in the film industry. Rye Lane will stick with me as a thoroughly enjoyable film, and perhaps even the best rom-com of the year.

Movie Review: "Rye Lane" Is A Vibrant Rom-Com Street Worth Wonder Down