He calls himself an "artistic polymath" - which is just another term for being a c@nt

Continuing my trip up Empire's top 20 films of 2023

#9 :  Rye Lane

When London gets romanticised, it always tends to be the same bits of the capital. Snooze. Raine Allen-Miller’s debut feature brings some Before Sunset vibes south of the river and reinvents the British romcom in the process. Over a day and night spent around Peckham and Brixton – shot with real wide-eyed love by Allen Miller, who moved to Brixton aged 12 – weepy sadsack Dom (David Jonsson) and peppy, impetuous Yas (Vivian Oparah) meet-cute in a gender neutral bog and wander around comparing love-scars before planning a caper to get Yas’s copy of A Tribe Called Quest album The Low End Theory back from an ex. On the way, there’s a cameo from a certain member of Brit romcom royalty which is delicious in more ways than one, and a soundtrack which bangs very, very hard. Dazzlingly inventive and with wit and energy to burn, Rye Lane is smart, sharp and very funny.

This is the highest film on Empire's list that didn't make on to The Guardian's list and there's a lot of love out there for this, so I was intrigued to watch it - I even roped the lovely Mrs Reed and our eldest into watching it, so let's hope it good, eh?

After the lengthy introduction provided by Empire, I really don't need to tell you anything else - it very much covers all you need to know. Dom and Yas do have a nice spark together (although she would do my head in after about two minutes) and David Jonsson (Industry) and Vivian Oparah (Class) have to take loads of credit for this. Karene Peter is also good as Gia, Dom's ex - apparently she's been in 124 episodes of Emmerdale but I can assure you I don't know her from there. And the "cameo from a certain member of Brit romcom royalty" is very unexpected - and short!

As well as some fine acting, it's all really well shot - there are a lot of mega-closeups (with some great lighting) and some great tracking shots (Dom and Yes spend a lot of the film in transit) with some lovely quirky action going on in the background or in some cleverly done cut-away shots. It's also obvious that Raine Allen-Miller (the director) and Nathan Bryon and Tom Meliz (the writers) love the area with loads of fine looking locations packed with vibrant colours - there are some stunning looking places which I'm quite tempted to seek out.

I can't claim to know London these days (have I ever really known London?), but it feels like this is much more representative of today's multi-cultural society that some celebrate and others, well, don't so much. It must also have been filmed VERY early in the morning given how few people were about. The film is certainly very charming in terms of the personalities and environs on display and it is pretty cleverly done - but I just didn't think it's very funny. Yes, there are wry chuckles and smiles and a whole lotta feel-good, but not loads of laughs - but I do appreciate that I'm possibly slightly older and whiter than the target audience. 

So, there was a lot to admire about this film and I can see what would make people love it, but I think I'm missing a lot of the cultural references - although I'm struggling to see quite what made everything think it was hilarious. And what did my fellow viewers think? It was pretty much a couple of shrugs from them - but there were plenty of worse things I could have made them watch. I'm also certainly going to check out what Raine Allen-Miller does next because there's a load of talent on display here. If you're slightly younger or less white than me (hard to imagine, I realise) or you've just gone through a recent break-up, then you might want to check it out - it's on Disney+.

#10 - As enjoyable as I can find these things
#8 - Utterly, utterly charming