Yesterday (2019)

A struggling musician realizes he's the only person on Earth who can remember The Beatles after waking up in an alternate timeline where they never existed.

Director:

Danny Boyle

Writers:

Jack Barth (story by), Richard Curtis (screenplay)

Stars:

Himesh Patel, Lily James, Sophia Di Martino

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Himesh Patel	...	Jack Malik
Lily James	...	Ellie Appleton
Sophia Di Martino	...	Carol
Ellise Chappell	...	Lucy
Meera Syal	...	Sheila Malik
Harry Michell	...	Nick
Vincent Franklin	...	Brian
Joel Fry	...	Rocky
Michael Kiwanuka	...	Micheal Kiwanuka
Karma Sood	...	Young Jack
Gus Brown	...	Marcus The Dentist
Sanjeev Bhaskar	...	Jed Malik
Karl Theobald	...	Terry
Alexander Arnold	...	Gavin
Dominic Coleman	...	Ipswich TV Host

Storyline

In Lowestoft UK, Jack Malik is a frustrated musician whose musical career is going nowhere despite the faith that his friend/manager Ellie Appleton has in him. However, on the night Jack decides to give up, the whole world is momentarily hit with a massive blackout during which Jack is hit by a bus. Upon regaining consciousness, Jack learns to his astonishment that he is apparently now the only one who knows the music of the Beatles. Realizing this improbable opportunity, Jack begins playing the music of the greatest of the rock bands, claiming it as his own. It pays off quickly and Jack becomes a worldwide musical sensation. However, Jack finds himself drifting away from Ellie, only realizing his love for her when she has become intimidated by his success, which depends on a blatant plagiarization that no one could find out. Now, Jack must make a fundamental moral decision about his music to satisfy his conscience as he decides what he truly needs.

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Plot Keywords:

plagiarism | the beatles | musician | rock music | alternative reality | 

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Taglines:

Yesterday everyone knew the Beatles. Today, only Jack remembers their songs. He's about to become a very big deal.

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Music | Musical | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for suggestive content and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Italian Japanese

Release Date:

28 June 2019 (USA)

Also Known As:

Yesterday

Filming Locations:

Cantley, Norfolk, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,010,050, 30 June 2019, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$48,274,580, 14 July 2019

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$56,982,740, 7 July 2019

Company Credits

Production Co:

Etalon Film, Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One early concept was that the colour purple was among the things that didn't exist, with a casual reference to the band Deep Purple now being called "Deep Orange." This idea was abandoned because it would be too much work to ensure no extras were wearing purple.

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Goofs

While picking out a name for his album, one of them is titled The white album. There is no official Beatle album with that name. The "white album" is simply called The Beatles.

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Quotes

Rocky: Love your work, man.
Ed Sheeran: Thanks.
Rocky: Especially the rapping.
Ed Sheeran: Really?
Rocky: No, I'm only kidding. No, leave it to the brothers, I say.

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Crazy Credits

As well as the credits being shown in a Beatles-style font, whenever a name starts with a B the letter B is larger than the rest of the text.

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Connections

References Jaws (1975)

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Soundtracks

Summer Song
Written by Richard Curtis, Adem Ilhan & Daniel Pemberton

User Reviews

Loved it as a Beatles fan, Richard Curtis and Danny Boyle combine for a British classic

In my opinion there are so many fantastic songs from arguably the greatest band of all time, that I thought a comedy film would surely be a let down but no, Curtis and Boyle have made a great film with good humour and emotional highs and lows.

The pace of the film is good and there are some good surprises. The premise of the film is unique and makes for some good running and in jokes. There is also a lot of empathy for the characters, which shows how good it is.

My only reason for it not getting a star more was the plot is a little obvious and a bit of a slow start but it's still a film worth seeing more than once.