Yesterday

Richard Curtis's script (from his and Jack Barth's story) hinges on a tantalising alternative world: what if one musician remembered the songs of the Beatles and no one else on the planet did? This brilliant conceit is given the full, stammering, hemming-and-hawing Curtis treatment, complete with will-they-won't-they lovers. Mediocre musician Jack Malik (played by EastEnders alumnus Himesh Patel) gets hit by a bus and on waking up, finds himself propelled into a world where cigarettes don't exist (spoiler, sorry) but neither do the Fab Four. This means Jack can say he's written all of their tunes, even if success means he loses his best friend and one true love (Lily James). Curtis and director Danny Boyle turn up the giggles, with nasty LA management (Kate McKinnon) and strangely insecure Ed Sheeran (as a version of himself) adding to the feel of music industry reality. For all its flaws, this is another feel-good, uplifting singalong entertainment that's very much in the style of Rocketman or Bohemian Rhapsody, but at least this time, we don't have to worry about the facts. Rousing British comedy, anyone?