Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
A struggling musician realizes he's the only person on Earth who can remember The Beatles after waking up in an alternate reality where the group was forgotten.
Yesterday has a genuinely inventive high-concept premise — a world without The Beatles is a delightful and thought-provoking hook — earning strong Novelty marks. The performances are warm and charming, particularly Himesh Patel and Lily James, though nothing transformative. Cinematography is functional and unremarkable, typical of a mid-budget British romcom. The plot does solid work setting up the moral dilemma but loses its nerve in the second half, leaning too heavily on romcom conventions. The ending feels rushed and overly tidy, sidestepping the more interesting philosophical questions the premise raises in favor of a crowd-pleasing resolution that underserves the setup.