Imagine if The Beatles never existed. A world where no young piano student ever sat down to play the opening notes of ‘Let It Be’ and no group of tipsy friends belted out ‘Yellow Submarine’ on a Friday night. You might be thinking this is the beginning of a parallel-universe horror film, however really it’s the premise of a new comedy from Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire).
Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) has struggled over a decade to make his voice and songs heard. Despite the support from his childhood friend Ellie (Lily James), the farthest he has come is playing an empty tent at Latitude Festival. However, his luck begins to turn after a freak accident during a mysterious worldwide blackout leaves Jack as the only person in the world that can remember The Beatles.
A chance discovery by Ed Sheeran plucks Jack from his sleepy English hometown and throws him into the limelight. Surrounded by insatiable agents and overzealous music execs, Jack begins to struggle with his newfound fame and growing guilt, coming to the realisation that sometimes what you leave behind is exactly what you’ve been looking for all along.
Both a love story and an ode to the musical genius of The Beatles, Yesterday is a charming and uplifting film written by the master of romantic comedies, Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Notting Hill). Having set his own bar up pretty high, unfortunately, it is hard to say that Curtis tops it again with Yesterday. Nevertheless, by finding yet another intriguing and gripping way to tell a love story that has been told time again, Curtis proves that his storytelling mastery is ever changing and refreshing.
Entertaining is also Kate McKinnon’s (The Spy Who Dumped Me, Ghostbusters) phenomenal depiction of the greedy and shallow manager, who spews out one insult after another with an air of nonchalance, as well as Ed Sheeran’s charismatic and sometimes self-mocking portrayal of his own superstardom.
Light-hearted and funny, the film’s best moments come from the twisted cultural references that make the audience feel as if they’re in on The Beatles secret too. You find yourself knowingly chuckling when Jack and his roadie are chased by adoring fans in Liverpool, as well as pondering what the Beatles-equivalent of today would be when, in response to Jack’s claims that ‘Yesterday; is the best song ever written, his friend casually states “Well, it’s not Coldplay. It’s not Fix You”.
At its core a love story, Yesterday is also a film about the meaning of success as well as the joy of good music, all played out to an unsurprisingly fantastic soundtrack that will have you humming for days.
Yesterday is released in cinemas on 28 June. It was reviewed at the 2019 EIFF.
