Revisiting Danny Boyle’s ‘Yesterday’: How a good concept failed on all counts
Amnesia tropes in films are almost always kryptonite for the best narratives. And since it’s nearly impossible to imagine a world without the massive cultural impact of The Beatles, a concept like the one used in Danny Boyle’s Yesterday seems like it should tick all the boxes. So why, then, does it end up feeling like nothing more than a poorly executed alternate universe fanfiction?
Struggling singer-songwriter Jack Malik finds his world changed forever one day when an inexplicable supernatural global power outage leaves him the only one who remembers The Beatles. An established fan from the outset, his otherwise seamless references to the Fab Four one day fail to land among his friends, which makes him wonder why all knowledge of the best band in history has dissipated.
Soon comes the vicious scramble to recall every one of their hits to bring their light back into the world, with Malick performing the songs to audiences as if they were his own, but it’s okay because there’s no ill intent behind this move, just pure adoration and a desire to rehash the flame that once set the world alight, even if it’s through borrowed sparks.
Selling that concept to almost anybody is easy, especially as it taps into the one thing we, as humans, are always suckers for—unimaginable scenarios and the reactions of the characters we find ourselves growing attachments to. And above all else, it aims to explore the one question no one will ever be able to answer: what would the world be like had The Beatles never existed?
In principle, Yesterday should have been a smash. And while people flocked to theatres to see the film, already equipped with a quintessential essence of suspended disbelief, many walked away feeling somewhat depleted. It seems not even music from the Liverpudlian quartet could have saved this mess, nor a strangely placed Ed Sheeran, or even something that exudes confidence, charm, and fun with little substance.
On the surface, this failure seems more to do with the film’s intent on tackling multiple themes and narratives without exploring the concept with enough intricacy. From the start, it’s established that Jack has a longstanding adoration for his friend, Ellie, tailored to the typical unrequited trope where one party (Ellie) isn’t sure whether the other (Jack) appreciates her in the way she wants him to.
He’s distracted most of the time by his music and other parts of trying to “make it”, and while he does like Ellie back, he doesn’t exactly have the smarts to romance her appropriately. In the context of The Beatles, such rom-com attempts feel entirely warranted, especially as most band retellings focus on the labour of love they always fostered, even in the crux of deep-seated debates and frustrations.
This was the main thread throughout Across The Universe, for instance, which placed the romance between the two lead characters against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, using The Beatles and their music as a conduit for themes of rage, rebellion, despair, unity, and love. Yesterday, on the other hand, neglects many of these typical facets that factor into the band’s timeless appeal with a half-baked idea that feels too conceptually flimsy to provide any legitimate angst or tension.
Not only this, but it also alludes to other missing facets of The Beatles’ absence, like Coca-Cola, cigarettes, and Harry Potter. Credit to Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison where it’s due, of course, but while attempting fantasy elements like these is commendable in some circumstances, these casual drippings of other discrepancies seem too misplaced to be genuine or even intriguing.
After enduring countless attempts to make the story interesting, including a pivotal moment when it’s revealed that Jack isn’t actually the only one who remembers The Beatles, a strangely employed plot twist makes everything feel even more feeble. In this world, John Lennon is still alive but never famous; instead, he lives a quiet, solitary life by the sea. Trying one last time to pull on its own sentimentality, Jack meets this old version of Lennon in a strange scenario where he serves as a moral compass, urging Jack to follow his heart, no matter what.
On paper, all of these stamps seem to point towards an unexpected story filled with everything the Beatles represent, but it seems to veer somewhere that lacks any interest in itself. Instead of placing something that should be emotional, it moves somewhere a little too ambiguous and not at all rooted in everything it asks the audience to feel.
In the end, its promises to enlighten disperse into disappointment, desaturated hues of what could have been replacing any of the few truly enjoyable moments, fading into the all-too-familiar shade of mediocrity. The worst part? The Beatles were anything but.
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