A high-concept musical film that dares to insert itself in the legacy of
the Beatles,
Yesterday concerns struggling singer/songwriter Jack Malik, who awakens from a paranormal event to a world where
the Beatles never existed -- except in his own memory. He stumbles into fame, fortune, and ethical and romantic dilemmas by performing their songs. (A good portion of the
Yesterday's budget was spent securing rights to no less than 17
Fab Four tunes.) The film's screenplay comes courtesy of Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, Love Actually), and Oscar winner
Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting) directed. Best known prior to
Yesterday for his nine years on the English soap EastEnders, lead actor
Himesh Patel earned the role with an acoustic cover of a
Coldplay song of his choosing ("We Never Change"). Without being told the subject matter at stake, he won over the filmmakers with his balance of simplicity, directness, and making it seem like his song instead of a cover.
Patel sang and played all of his tracks live in the studio. The soundtrack recording consists of seven instrumentals by scorer
Daniel Pemberton and 20 performances by
Patel. One of those songs, "Summer Song," was written by Curtis,
Pemberton, and
Adem Ilhan as a Jack Malik original, but the rest is all
Beatles. With that in mind, the soundtrack unfolds according to reasonable expectation, with warm, competent covers of
Beatles classics ranging from their early days ("I Saw Her Standing There") to late-career material ("The Long and Winding Road"), with the pleasant-voiced
Patel better suited to the more intimate songs. Where it may deviate from expectation is in heavily reworked arrangements that retain the most memorable song components while (realistically?) forgetting the rest or making do with impressionistic filler as needed -- they don't try too hard to replicate
George Martin, or
George Harrison's guitar playing, or
Ringo's drumming, and
The White Album is represented by "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da." Standouts include a percussive take on "Here Comes the Sun" and a punk "Help!" A duet version of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" features
Lily James as romantic interest Ellie. ~ Marcy Donelson