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Yesterday

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Yesterday

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Summary

Fantasy comedy starring Himesh Patel and Lily James. Cycling home after a gig, aspiring musician Jack is hit by a bus during a strange power cut. He wakes up to find himself in a world where nobody has heard of the Beatles, so takes advantage of this by passing their songs off as his own. Success soon comes his way, but it threatens to come between him and his manager and best friend, Ellie.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Karen Krizanovich

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?

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6.8/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameJack MalikHimesh PatelEllie AppletonLily JamesRockyJoel FryEd SheeranEd SheeranDebra HammerKate McKinnonCarolSophia Di MartinoJed MalikSanjeev BhaskarSheila MalikMeera SyalJames CordenJames CordenBrianVincent FranklinTerryKarl TheobaldGavinAlexander ArnoldHilaryCamilla RutherfordLiz (Liverpool Stranger)Sarah LancashireLeo (Russian Stranger)Justin EdwardsHazelElizabeth Berrington

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Crew

rolenameDirectorDanny Boyle

Details

Theatrical distributor

Universal

Released on

2019-06-28

Languages

English | Portuguese | Japanese

Guidance

Swearing, sexual references

Available on

DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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