Film

Yesterday

Name: Yesterday
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Music, Romance
Released: 2019
Cast: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Sophia Di Martino, Ellise Chappell, Meera Syal

Other titles called Yesterday: the 2004 film.

A washed-up musician wakes in a world where The Beatles never existed—and he's the only one who remembers them. Richard Curtis directs this high-concept rom-com as a love letter to the band's music, wrapped around a quieter story about ambition, authenticity, and whether fame is worth losing yourself. Sweet, funny, genuinely moving.

TMDb rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like your romantic comedies gently absurd, with a love for pop songs and a hero who is more sweet than slick.

Skip it if you'd find the central premise too slight to carry two hours, and the romance thin and predictable beside its clever hook.

What it asks of you: Under two hours and light on its feet, it lets a love story and a stack of familiar songs carry the evening without demanding much beyond a willing ear.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Love Actually2003

The same director mining romantic comedy from genuine emotion and an ensemble of British charm. It has the same warmth, the same willingness to let sentiment breathe, the same faith that people are fundamentally decent.

But It's aggressively sentimental and the plots are uneven. If you think Richard Curtis is saccharine, this will confirm it.

Notting Hill1999

Curtis again: a love story about ordinary people and the distance between how we feel and what we deserve. Hugh Grant stammering through confession feels lived-in rather than performed.

But The pacing drags in the middle and it hasn't aged perfectly on race and class. It's also very much a film about a man loving an idea of a woman.

Begin Again2014

A film about making music, making art, and the self-sabotage that keeps talented people small. Deeper than it first appears, with real insight into why we settle for less than we want.

But It's a bit of a mope. The romance is secondary to the story of failure, which means some viewers will find it grim rather than redemptive.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Yesterday

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

High Fidelity2000

Both explore the fantasy that if we could just access the art we loved at the right moment, we could rewrite our actual lives. Both gently suggest that's beautiful and impossible.

A man stuck in the past learns that nostalgia is a trap. It's funny and it breaks the fourth wall and it has genuine urgency about whether staying smaller and purer means staying alive at all.

But It's very 2000—the gender politics are dated. John Cusack thinks being talented and sad is the same as being interesting, and while the film knows this, it also kind of loves him for it.

Imagine: John Lennon1988

A documentary-biography that captures not just the music but the man: contradictory, driven, funny, sometimes cruel. It shows you exactly why the songs matter and what they cost.

But It's 1988 and sometimes it shows. Some sections are dry archive; others feel dated in how they frame the era. Not always as graceful as it tries to be.

(500) Days of Summer2009

A love story that's really about delusion and desire—why we keep trying to rewrite someone into the person we need them to be. Funny, sad, clever about the gap between fantasy and reality.

But If you're in the wrong mood it plays smug. The narrator can feel superior about the main character's mistakes, and some find that annoying rather than insightful.

Sing Street2016

A story about making music, finding identity, and the alchemy of falling in love through song. Set in 1980s Dublin, it has genuine sweetness and real understanding of why teenagers start bands.

But The indie-film preciousness can tip into saccharine. It knows itself to be charming and sometimes tries too hard to earn that license.

A Star Is Born2018

About ambition, talent, and the cost of visibility. It's serious about music and serious about fame, with chemistry so real it hurts. Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga sell every bit of it.

But It's heavy and it earns that weight. The trajectory is somewhat inevitable, and if you're not in the mood for a beautiful sad story, it will feel like work.

Once2007

A Dublin busker and a Czech immigrant make an album together over a week. Shot like a documentary, acted like life, scored like a love letter. Genuinely original about what music means.

But It's deliberately unglamorous and the plot barely exists. If you need narrative momentum or production gloss, it will feel slow and small.

Mamma Mia!2008

Pure joy built from ABBA songs and permission to not take anything seriously. It knows exactly what it is and commits to the bit. Meryl Streep having the time of her life is contagious.

But If ABBA doesn't move you, it's just people dancing in bright costumes for two hours. It has no irony, no edge, no apology—which is the point, but also the limit.