All you need is love.

Rating: 7/10 (1 July 2019)

'Yesterday (2019)' is a very traditional 'Richard Curtis' film, complete with pretty much every trope you'd expect from a rom-com come music-drama. As with many others of similar ilk, its loosely sci-fi-stroke-fantasy 'what-if' conceit isn't really a massive narrative concern; it's brushed aside with some basic lip-service that doesn't even come close to an implication of an explanation, really. Of course, its repercussions echo throughout the piece and it is, for all intents and purposes, the fuel of the flick. The story that evolves from this initially outlandish but increasingly acceptable premise is a familiar one, but it's a satisfying and well-told one nonetheless. This is, in large part, thanks to Danny Boyle, who directs the thing with a real flair not often seen in the genre. Whenever he has the opportunity to do something somewhat left-field, while still delivering a traditional and relatively straight-forward piece, he takes it with apparent glee, injecting the experience with an unmistakable vigour. This praise is in no way meant to discount the work of Curtis, mind you; the screenplay is confident, charming and well-crafted enough that you don't mind how, essentially, 'by the book' it is. The cast do an excellent job at drawing you into this slightly alternate world, too; everyone, and everything, seems suitably grounded. I did find one of its clichés to be a tad bothersome, but it didn't matter too much. Neither did its general predictability, which was actually shattered on a couple of occasions by some decent pseudo twists. Even when it isn't funny or poignant or particularly fast-paced, it's still pretty fun. The entire affair is rather strange, from an outside perspective, because it's ostensibly a 'Beatles film' that isn't a 'Beatles film' at all. Their music features heavily - although, it's pretty much all sung by someone else (wonderfully, I'll add) - and the picture seems like somewhat of a celebration of it, too. However, both the band and the music basically fall into the background: the film isn't really about either them. Still, it's not like non-biopic movies are a new medium for The Beatles. Perhaps pieces like this are better at conveying the feeling of listening to iconic songs and the joy they bring to people's lives than classic biopics could ever hope to be. The stories behind the songs often aren't as interesting as the stories we make while listening to them. I think that's at the heart of 'Yesterday (2019)'. It isn't a story about success, it's one about giving the world the opportunity to make their own stories. 7/10