Fittingly, ‘Rye Lane’ opens outside Peckham Rye station, as if the audience had just stepped off the train – though they might not recognise it at first. It’s here, in the back of Coal Rooms, that we first encounter a weeping, heartbroken Dom – on the loo. ‘The loos in the Coal Rooms – ya gotta go,’ says Raine, extolling the station’s former ticket office and waiting room turned bar and restaurant. ‘They do a really good roast, but the loos are gorgeous.’ Keen-eyed Londoners might also notice a familiar scrawl next to the grieving leading man: ‘Nat Has Herpes’, a cornerstone of capital living, is tagged on the cubicle wall – a manifestation of Raine’s own immature sense of humour, she says.
Quit your chirpsing and grab some p’s, because the London romantic-comedy of the year is about to hit UK cinemas – and ‘Rye Lane’ has got us gassed.
Two twentysomething navigate their break-ups after a chance meeting at an art exhibition. Accountant Dom (‘Industry’s David Jonsson) has been binned for his best mate; aspiring costume designer Yas (Vivian Oparah) has just ended things with hers. Seemingly opposites, they develop a rapport while roaming the streets of South London – in a story that bursts with bright colours, bold fashions, and an energy as vibrant as producer Kwes’s score.
And while that will-they-won’t-they mystique is amplified by two radiant lead performances, the bigger love affair here of a very different nature: ‘Rye Lane’ is positively smitten with Peckham and Brixton, where the production was shot in the spring of 2021. Director Raine Allen-Miller sits down with Time Out to chat key locations seen on film – bogs, fried chicken shops and all.