‘Masterpiece’ romance movie is modern classic and streaming on iPlayer | Films | Entertainment

If rom-coms are your thing, you won’t want to miss this one – and it is free to watch now on iPlayer.

Rye Lane is a 2023 British romantic comedy film directed by Raine Allen-Miller in her feature directorial debut. It is from a screenplay by Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia. The film is titled after the real-life Rye Lane Market, and it is set in the south London areas of Peckham and Brixton. It stars David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah as two strangers who have a chance encounter, end up getting to know each other after having both been through recent breakups.

The film’s synopsis reads: “Yas (Vivian Oparah) and Dom (David Jonsson), two twenty-somethings both reeling from bad break-ups, connect over the course of an eventful day in South London – helping each other deal with their nightmare exes, and potentially restoring their faith in romance.”

Rye Lane has amassed a near-perfect score of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. The critics’ 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.”

Rye Lane is a film you will fall in love with immediately. A fun, hilarious and charming British movie all about resolving the past and finding the best person at the worst time.”

Another said: “The best romance of the year.”

“This is not love at first sight, throwing all caution to the wind. This is love, tempered by experience, with due consideration of consequences. David Jonsson) and Vivian Oparah give very strong, believable performances, anchoring this movie,” a third added.

A fan on IMDb said: Rye Lane is an all-time great rom-com, efficient in moving through all the tropes with bottomless charm and a level of visual craft rarely seen within this genre. Obviously, it’s also really funny with several memorable moments rife with effective cringe.”

Another said: “Like a Studio Ghibli film. A masterpiece.”

A third added: “I really enjoyed watching this film so much so I would happily rewatch it again and again because it was beautiful. The scenes of Peckham was fantastic was filmed so well. I loved the little nuances, the colourful scenes that reflected the colour and vibrancy of Peckham.”

Rye Lane is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.