Universal has released the trailer for Danny Boyle’s new movie Yesterday. Written by Richard Curtis (Love Actually), the film follows Jack Malik (Himesh Patel), a struggling singer-songwriter who, after a bus accident during a global blackout, awakens in a world where he’s the only person who remembers the songs of The Beatles. By performing some of the greatest music ever written, Jack is capitulated to fame, but at the risk of losing his Ellie (Lily James), his closest friend.

While the premise is certainly fun, there’s an interesting idea swirling at the center of the movie, which is that would you use the art of someone else if it meant burying your own voice? This being a Richard Curtis script, there’s a heavy emphasis on the romance between Jack and Ellie, but I’m more fascinated by the element of using someone else’s art at the cost of your own personal expression. Jack is basically living a lie even if it’s a lie no one else will ever catch him in. I’m very curious to see how that plays out.

Check out the Yesterday trailer below. The film opens June 28th and also stars Kate McKinnon.

Here’s the official synopsis for Yesterday:

Yesterday, everyone knew The Beatles. Today, only Jack remembers their songs. He’s about to become a very big deal. From Academy Award®-winning director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) and Richard Curtis, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually and Notting Hill, comes a rock-n-roll comedy about music, dreams, friendship, and the long and winding road that leads to the love of your life.

 

Jack Malik (Himesh Patel, BBC’s Eastenders) is a struggling singer-songwriter in a tiny English seaside town whose dreams of fame are rapidly fading, despite the fierce devotion and support of his childhood best friend, Ellie (Lily James, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again). Then, after a freak bus accident during a mysterious global blackout, Jack wakes up to discover that The Beatles have never existed … and he finds himself with a very complicated problem, indeed. Performing songs by the greatest band in history to a world that has never heard them, and with a little help from his steel-hearted American agent, Debra (Emmy winner Kate McKinnon), Jack’s fame explodes. But as his star rises, he risks losing Ellie — the one person who always believed in him. With the door between his old life and his new closing, Jack will need to get back to where he once belonged and prove that all you need is love.

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Image via Universal Pictures
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Image via Universal Pictures

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