Yesterday

Before a freak blackout, Jack Malik is a man with a dying passion for becoming a paid musician. His long-time friend and manager Ellie, played by Lily James, is his biggest supporter but even her words of encouragement aren’t enough to keep the flame burning. On his way home from his last gig, fate decides to take control of the situation.

Himesh Patel breaks into the movie side of entertainment in Yesterday, a film that builds a world without The Beatles…for most people. Jack, is the only person left after a blackout with recollections of the Fab Four. And if you can sing and play the guitar, what do you do with that knowledge?

An excellent question with a not so simple answer. 

I didn’t quite know what to expect from this movie going in. I had only watched the first teaser that came out months ago. Lily James is in it, and it has a Beatles soundtrack. There wasn’t a lot more put into my decision on seeing the movie. A smidge shallow, I know. There are worse reasons to commit to a film. In any event, a quasi science-fiction premise certainly wasn’t on my list of expectations.

Actual movie critics would take the time to point out that it was an extremely simplified concept. That subtracting a band the likes of The Beatles would have crazy repercussions. It wouldn’t be just John, Paul, Ringo and George missing. They influenced everybody. 

Sure, the film could have deep-dived. It would have made the movie longer. The exposition required would have taken away from the charming awkwardness of Jack’s story. And it would have bored people. Focusing on that isn’t the damn point. If we can accept that Doc Brown slipping on a wet toilet seat was enough to invent time travel, then we can believe a twelve-second power outage is enough poof away The Beatles. 

Yesterday is a story of a being handed exactly what you think you want. Patel is awkwardly charming as our everyday hero. He has stumbled and struggled. Jack Malik is someone you know. Hell, from my seat, I felt like I was a far less talented version of Jack. As the story evolves, he pulls you in for his ride on the rollercoaster of fame. 

Lily James is a delight as ever. She did a good job with the character of Ellie, the dependable Girl Friday. Having spent a considerable amount of time in situations like Ellie’s, I related to the character’s struggles as much as I did with Jack’s. To nitpick just a bit, the character could have been fleshed out just a little bit more. Supporting characters repeatedly pointed out she was desirable and sought after. It would have been nice to see her have more of a life.

The story of Jack’s capitalization on The Beatles did leave me wondering, if the songs were released now, would they have been as impactful and popular as they were in the sixties and the seventies? Yesterday operates on the premise that the collective work of the band would hit just as hard. I think the songs would strike nearly universal cords with folks around the world. I am not quite as sure they would inspire the mania they did in the past. 

Throughout the movie, Malik fails to give meaning to the songs. He does a bumbling job with Hey Jude but otherwise leaves the songs to stand on their own. In a way, in the context of the film, they can stand on their own because we, the audience, understand the music. I think this is the thread the story didn’t address well and is the thing critics are picking up on for their criticism. 

That said, it was a fun “what if?” movie to get lost in. These types of movies don’t come along very often. I really enjoyed the story’s tact in eliciting questions from the audience. Would these songs make it now? What would a world without a phenomenon like The Beatles look like? And it does it effortlessly and without beating us over the heads with them. 

So, critics be damned, go Nerd Girls, enjoy Yesterday especially if it’s been a hard day’s night or if you want to hold someone’s hand and let it be.