Yesterday is a funny, feelgood film that will delight fans of Richard Curtis’s very particular brand of film making

Posted on 13th November 2019

When Richard Curtis and Danny Boyle teamed up it seemed such a provocative combination that it was hard to imagine what would emerge. The end result is a lot closer to Love Actually than Trainspotting, with Curtis’s frothy rom-com script reaching the screen largely unscathed, notwithstanding some of Boyle’s trademark directorial flourishes.  

Himesh Patel and Lily James are an attractive will they/won’t they couple, whose relationship is at the heart of the film, notwithstanding its intriguing central premise. When Patel’s character Jack Malik wakes up one day and finds he’s the only person that can remember the Beatles he decides to cash the memory in, so that much of the film is taken up showcasing an extraordinary back catalogue of songs, as he presents himself as a one man song machine.

There is fun support from Kate McKinnon as Malki’s vampiric agent, a star turn from Joey Fry as the hapless roadie, while Sanjeev Bhaskar and Meera Syal effortlessly steal every scene they appear in. Shot in and around Halesworth, Dunwich, Gorleston and Latitude Festival, this is a light and fluffy confection that will delight fans of Curtis’s very particular brand of film making.

Yesterday (12A) will screen on Wednesday 27 November at 10:30am & 7:30pm

by David Vass