Yesterday and the Risky Business of Gaining the World
Sometimes the fantastic, seemingly impossible elements in a story bring acute attention to the real human drama and dynamism we would miss if said fantastic elements were absent. Such is the case in Yesterday (2019), when struggling musician Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) faces the possibility of a whole new life caused by a world that has never heard of The Beatles. The movie does not seek to explain how this could happen, and one would miss the real meaning of the story by obsessing over the physics of alternate timelines and parallel universes ( Avengers: Endgame , anyone?). However, this fantastic plot twist highlights the struggle in every human heart: will I choose to gain the whole world but lose my soul? (cf. Mark 8:36) Jack has wanted a career in music for years, but most of his gigs have been small, largely unattended venues with little indication of any change or upward momentum. At the beginning of the film, Jack is ready to hang up hi
