Family Movie Recommendation :: Yesterday
It can seem impossible to find a movie or show that appeals to both me and my husband and our teen and tween girls. My husband and teen like action movies like Gladiator and Planet of the Apes. My tween and I can’t stand them. I like musicals, but I’m all alone in that. My tween can’t sit for longer than an hour, so she usually bails halfway through any movie.
I was positively shocked to find a movie we all enjoyed – Yesterday
No one played on their phone, and everyone stayed until the end! Unbelievable!
Yesterday came out in 2019 (so it’s not an old movie – the kiss of death). It stars people I wasn’t familiar with (although like most middle-aged folks, I did find myself wondering where I had seen that actress before — hint: Downton Abbey). Ed Sheeran plays a minor role, as does Kate McKinnon (AKA Weird Barbie to my kids).
The story is about a down-on-his-luck singer / musician / songwriter who gets into a terrible accident at the same moment that the world suffers a split-second blackout. He wakes up in the hospital, missing a few teeth, but largely no worse for wear.
When he gets out, he meets his friends and his manager / friend at a pub and they ask him to sing for them. He plays, “Yesterday” by The Beatles and they are genuinely mesmerized. They had never heard the song, nor had they heard of The Beatles. He is — rightly — astounded.
He goes home and googles the band, only to discover it doesn’t exist. There is nothing found about the band or any of its members. He realizes that he is the only person on earth who knows this music and begins to perform as many songs as he can remember, claiming them as his own.
I won’t give away the rest of the story, but the movie has several advantages:
- It’s relatively short. It’s less than 2 hours, which seems rare these days.
- There is no foul language and no sex. A bit of kissing in one scene.
- It is very funny – especially any scene with the main character’s parents.
- It is a real, honest-to-goodness feel-good movie!
It also leads to some interesting philosophical questions that are great for the tween / teen set.
- How important is honesty, especially when you’ll never get caught? What’s the point of being honest when you can profit from lying?
- What is intellectual property? (ok so maybe don’t use this term) Is it ok to steal another person’s work, even when they won’t know and can’t be harmed, financially or otherwise?
- What’s more important: fame and money or valuable relationships with people who really love you? Does Jack make the right choice?
- Will there ever be a better band in the history of the world than The Beatles? What groups or individuals rival this amazing band and why/how? (This one gives you a window into their taste and allows you to introduce your favorites.)
It’s currently streaming on Amazon Prime and Apple TV, but I’m sure intrepid folks can find it wherever movies are shown. Get your popcorn and settle in for a great night!