A Reel Review: YESTERDAY

Over the years, many movies have been built on the simple question of “what if”; what if a shark terrorized a resort town, what if a local boxer was given the chance to fight the champion, and what if there was a rebellion against an evil galactic empire. For Danny Boyle and his new film YESTERDAY, its a question of what if The Beatles were suddenly gone from history, and can only be remembered by one man…

Jack (Himesh Patel), is a struggling singer and songwriter who gets run over by a bus during a worldwide power outage. When he comes to, he finds that he is the only person who remembers The Beatles, who are suddenly erased from history. Jack begins to re-compose and record their music, which leads him to fame and fortune. 

The bulk of YESTERDAY is spent with Jack struggling with his secret as he finds fame. He skyrockets into the world view as his new songs, Beatles songs that no one has ever heard before in this new reality, become insanely popular. It’s mostly a morality tale and we can see where things are going early, but Boyle finds more to the plot in the form of a love story and a romantic comedy. Jack’s life-long friend and manager Ellie (Lily James), loves him but can never get him to see it…and Jack’s new music career and messed up moral compass are intertwined nicely with his relationship with her. There is a lot of heart to the story, and it’s difficult for any of us to say that we would do things any differently if the chance to take credit for The Beatles’ music were in front of us. 

The simplicity of the story works for and against YESTERDAY. The absence of The Beatles in history should have a massive domino effect on the world, as they clearly influenced future generations of musicians and pop culture. But the film dances around this, and keeps things within Jack’s perimeter only. It makes for an intimate personal story, but it does feel like the larger impact should have been explored more. There are a few surprises here and there; other items from history are missing, and a late twist really complicates Jack’s dilemma of taking all the credit for writing the songs…as he is actually doing the world a favor for bringing this great, lost music back to the world. There is also a late surprise cameo that is sure to take breaths away, and the scene is so good, almost too good, that it feels it should have been longer. 

Performances are fabulous. Himesh Patel does amazing work in singing the songs and wrestling with his quandary. He is matched perfectly with Lily James who turns in one of her best performances. Kate McKinnon pops in as his new manager who is like a Mephistopheles to Jack, and it is one of her better outings on film. Singer and songwriter Ed Sheeran appears as himself and does an okay job. 

YESTERDAY ends just as we would expect it to, but it’s a film that has so much heart and is executed so well that we barely notice its simplicity. It’ll send audiences out of the theatre feeling like a million bucks with an extra spring in their steps…and perhaps inspiring a fresh look at The Beatles’ back catalog. YESTERDAY is a tribute with classic sensibilities, and in the end shows us that love was all that was needed. 

BOTTOM LINE: See it