"A world without the Beatles, is a world that's infinitely worse." — Yesterday film review

"Oh, I believe, in yesterday.."

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John. Paul. George. Ringo.

No, not Pope John Paul II. The Beatles.

If you knew me in sophomore year of high school, you would've likely seen those four names scribbled on the back of my left hand in dark blue ink. No, I'm really not joking. Just ask anyone who knew me then, during the pinnacle of my Beatles phase. I was obsessed. I was 16 and Beatlemania had hit me hard. My biggest problem back then was that I wasn't a teenager in 1964. (Now, of course, I'm smart enough to know that a woman of color should never want to be a young person in the 60's, but please cut me some slack).

Anyways, you could imagine how I felt coming into the theater Saturday night to see Yesterday, at its opening weekend. A movie about a struggling singer/songwriter who happens to be the only person in the world who remembers the Beatles while said singer/songwriter is a person of color whose storyline is not centered the fact that they are a person of color?! I mean... Sign. Me. Up.

Yesterday (2019, dir. by Danny Boyle) follows Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) as he fights the age-old struggle of any worn-down artist: give up, or keep going, with the passionate encouragement of his childhood best friend and manager Ellie (Lily James). It's Ellie's faith in Jack and her determination for him to see his dreams through that is the source of his ability to continue going, at least so far.

And then he's hit by a bus. Like, literally hit by a bus. As the entire world experiences a mysterious and mystical twelve-second power outage, Jack is flying in mid-air from a collision that ultimately takes two of his front teeth from him.

Following his hospital recovery, Jack's friends gift him a guitar since he, well, had his old one with him when he was hit by the bus. This is where the magic starts. Jack begins to play Yesterday for his friends, a bittersweet tune written by Sir Paul McCartney and performed by the Beatles. Only, not in this universe.

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Jack is a simple guy. He wants to make it big, but he doesn't care if he's Ed Sheeran level famous. (Excellent choice for a singer-turned-actor for this sort of movie, by the way). Alas, he is given this unbelievable power, and is faced with a choice: do nothing, or wield it. And wield it he did.

Becoming an overnight sensation, it's almost as if Jack doesn't feel bad about what he's doing, reeling in fame and fortune that would put Justin Bieber to shame if this was 2010. And to be honest, that sort of rubbed me the wrong way. Throughout the first half of the film, I kept thinking to myself, does this guy have no moral integrity? Here he is, attributing these songs to himself, without attempting to credit the true masterminds behind them!

But throughout the film, Jack's moral compass is continuously tested. At a press conference, Jack is caught off guard when an quaint older woman holds up a small yellow submarine. (The song of which he hadn't yet released, signifying she knew his secret). Later, he performs Help Me at an outdoor concert, and help he does indeed seem to need. Jack is terrified, anxious, and in need of a wakeup call. That submarine comes back to haunt him when the woman and one other man who seem to be the only others who remember the Beatles suddenly appear in his backstage room. Everything has been leading up to this suspenseful moment, and I can't help but think the worst is in store for Jack. Are they going to confront him? Threaten to tell his secret? Would anyone really believe these two people out of millions?

"A world without the Beatles, is a world that's infinitely worse," the woman says.

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The real beauty in this film is the simplicity of all things. It doesn't address what exactly occurred during that worldwide power outage. We don't get to find out what all of our Fab Four made of their lives since it clearly wasn't getting together to form the decade-defining group. Did they have unnoticed, failed careers of their own? Or did they actually get together, only to have disputes that ultimately led to the premature destruction of the band, never letting the Blackbird learn to fly? And what exactly was it, in the nature of the universe, that determined which influential brands like Coca-cola, Oasis, and Harry Potter (*gasp*) would meet the grim fate of never materializing?

The realist in me begged these answers. But I had to quiet that down, because if we've learned anything from Solo: A Star Wars Story, its that certain things are better left unsaid, and certain questions are better left without answers. It would've bogged down the real story, and that is one of a major moral dilemma: love, vs. fame and fortune.

Ah yes, Ellie. The small-town best friend turned manager who Jack left behind to seek the life he thought he wanted in sunny LA, with the new, polished, and terrifyingly hilarious manager Deborah (Kate McKinnon).

Of course, it couldn't be a Beatles-themed, lighthearted, and playful romantic comedy without our lovable underdog having to make a choice. (And yes, it's a rom-com, because I argue that the focus of this film is Jack realizing what he truly wants out of life and I think Ellie should be central to that picture).

So please do yourself a favor and grab tickets to watch this charming, warm story of love and self-fulfillment in theaters. You may just see a surprise guest who you never would've guessed that the filmmakers decided to incorporate; and it is he who ultimately gives Jack the answers that he's looking for. Sorry to be mysterious, but you'll see why soon enough.

The strength of Yesterday is of course in the immortality of the Beatles, and our society's permanent devotion to their music. But if James' effortless demeanor, McKinnon's quick humor, and Sheeran's, well, being his lovable self, isn't enough to get you to see it, let it be new guy Himesh Patel's likability. With Yesterday as Patel's film debut, he certainly was a crowd pleaser, giving us boyish charm along with enviable chemistry with co-star James. Patel's Jack is hilarious and real. You can see him again in the upcoming film The Aeronauts (dir. by Tom Harper) alongside Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones.

Not bad for the director of Slumdog Millionaire and the writer of Love Actually. Not bad at all. You've successfully warmed the heart of this Beatles fan, who may or may not be dusting off her records as she types, repeatedly thanking God she doesn't have to live in a world where the Beatles never existed.

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