Hey, Dude, It’s the “Yesterday” Trailer

The Beatles have been a pervasive force in pop culture for more than 50 years. So while there might be a random person who has never listened to the four lads from Liverpool, it would be insane that no one had ever heard of them before. But that’s the crazy, sci-fi-adjacent premise for the new British rom-com Yesterday.

With a script by one of my favorite writers (Richard Curtis) and directors (Danny Boyle), this looks like it will be the cheesy, heartfelt hit the summer movie season needs. Newcomer Himesh Patel plays Jack, a struggling singer-songwriter who wakes up after a global power outage to discover the Beatles never existed. So his covers of their songs become instant sensations, even though that opens up a whole can of worms about the history of rock ‘n’ roll (and world history, even). For example, someone jokes that “Yesterday,” one of the most performed songs of all time, is no “Fix You” by Coldplay. But would Coldplay even exist without the Beatles? Would U2?

But this movie is far more interested in the emotions the Beatles stir up, represented by the unrequited love between Jack and his longtime friend Ellie (Lily James), as well as Jack’s big creative secret. Even if you’re not fans of James Corden and Ed Sheeran, who cameo as themselves, there’s sure to be something for anyone who’s a fan of Curtis’ big-hearted worlds.

Yesterday opens Friday, June 25.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.