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Sabrina Elba & Ashley Thomas To Star In Rom-Com ‘Not Like Us’ From Ramla Ali And Richard A. Moore
Boxer-turned-filmmakers Ramla Ali and Richard A. Moore have completed filming their debut feature, Not Like Us, a romantic comedy shot in East London and starring Sabrina Elba and Ashley Thomas. The married co-writers and co-directors drew on their own experience of an interfaith, cross-cultural relationship for the story, which centres on a Somali single mother whose life is upended when she falls for a Jamaican man, defying the expectations of her family and community.
The film follows pharmacist and single mother Amina Hassan (Elba), whose carefully built life is disrupted by Edmund Clarke (Thomas), while three meddling community "aunties" try to steer her towards marriage. Sofia Oxenham also stars. The project was independently financed after the pair said they struggled with Britain's traditional film funding routes, and was produced by Pangaea Group's Sunita Mirchandani Hyams and Luke Hyams alongside 22 Summers' Andrew Conrad and Gina Carter, with Richard Fearn of Affine Films as executive producer. The team is targeting a 2027 release, ahead of Ali's separate boxing biopic In The Shadows, due in UK cinemas this October.
In short
- Sabrina Elba and Ashley Thomas to star in rom-com Not Like Us
- Filmed in East London by married directors Ramla Ali and Richard A. Moore
- Independently financed; targeting a 2027 release
Explained simply
Ramla Ali and Richard A. Moore, both boxers-turned-filmmakers, have completed their debut feature film, a romantic comedy called Not Like Us, shot in East London. The film stars Sabrina Elba as Amina Hassan, a Somali pharmacist and single mother, and Ashley Thomas as Edmund Clarke, a Jamaican man whose arrival disrupts her carefully ordered life.
The story explores what unfolds when Amina finds herself drawn to Edmund, whilst her family and community attempt to redirect her towards other choices and marriages. Ali and Moore drew directly from their own experience as an interfaith, cross-cultural married couple when writing the screenplay, bringing an authentic perspective to this tale of love across cultural boundaries.
The project was independently financed after the filmmakers reported struggling to secure funding through Britain's traditional film industry channels. The film is targeting a 2027 release, representing a significant milestone for diverse voices bringing their own stories to British cinema.