Hulu’s ‘Rye Lane’ a nice, candid, romantic comedy

By Matt Pascarella

Rated: R
Runtime: 1 hour, 22 minutes

Dom and Yas are two 20-somethings in South London who recently left their significant others. Dom is struggling to get over his ex and inadvertently meets Yas at a gallery. The two are different personalities but have a connection. As they learn more about each other’s past relationships, their bond increases. Although Dom and Yas may be discouraged with love, could they be right for one another?

“Rye Lane” stars David Jonsson, Vivian Oprah, Poppy Allen-Quarmby, Benjamin Sarpong-Broni, Karene Peter, and Simon Manyonda.

At an art show, Dom (Jonsson) goes into a unisex bathroom stall to have a cry while scrolling through his ex-girlfriend’s posts. Yas (Oprah) goes into the stall next to him and hears his whimpers. She asks if everything is OK. She leaves without seeing Dom’s face.

In the gallery, Yas notices Dom’s shoes and the two get to talking. Yas takes an interest in Dom and his messes. She says everyone has a mess. Dom, interested in Yas, finds out she just left her boyfriend.

Dom is on his way to meet with his ex-girlfriend, Gia (Peter), who cheated on him with his best friend. He says he wants to clear the air. Dom has been so heart-broken this is the first time in three months he’s left the house.

Yas wants to go with him to this meeting, but Dom says no.

At the meeting, Dom confronts Gia about why she cheated. She says it’s because they were unhappy and had grown apart. This is a cringe-worthy scene and Dom is at a loss for words until unexpectedly, Yas shows up; she quickly fabricates a story of how they met. This visibly upsets Gia.

Dom is so thankful to Yas for stepping in he offers to buy her something to eat.

Their personalities are very different; Yas is an outgoing person, not above complimenting a stranger, whereas Dom is more reserved and describes himself as a grand gesture guy when it comes to relationships.

Yas says Dom should try to “see what happens” more, as that is good for the soul.

When Yas tells Dom her breakup story, she adds that she left an album of hers at her ex-boyfriend’s place. She and Dom go on a mission to get it back. They end up doing karaoke in order to get help to break into her ex’s place.

Yas is hesitant, but Dom is excited to do karaoke, until it starts, and goes badly. At this point Yas steps in and the two bring the house down with a popular song from the 1990s. This is a very sweet scene.

Yas gets upset going for the album and they get caught by her ex who badmouths her to Dom – who won’t hear of it though. Things spiral; it comes out that lies were told. Dom and Yas go their separate ways.

This romantic comedy is a sincere story about not giving up, even if you feel there is no hope in your romantic future. It’s somewhat funny but doesn’t have the fastest moving plot. Jonsson and Oprah had real on-screen chemistry and their characters and relationship issues were relatable. It’s not the strongest romantic comedy, but I still enjoyed it.

I’m giving this one 3 out of 5 stars.

Now streaming on Hulu. <