New film ‘Yesterday’ depicts world where man wakes up and no one has heard of Brexit

Richard Curtis and Danny Boyle have unveiled their new film ‘Yesterday’, depicting a world where a man wakes from a coma and no one has heard of Brexit.

The film, described as a “feelgood summer smash”, shows the man, Simon Williams, waking up after being hit by a bus and wearily asking his girlfriend how Brexit is going, only for her to summon a speech therapist as he seems unable to pronounce the word ‘breakfast’.

Williams assumes that she is playing an elaborate trick as bad news may exacerbate his medical condition. He manages to get hold of a mobile phone, frantically googling phrases like ‘Brexit’ and ‘Article 50’, only to get no results.

In this alternative reality, a search for ‘Nigel Farage’ only brings up the response: “Did you mean ‘Nigel’s Garage’?” with a link to a local mechanic, and googling ‘Irish backstop’ just brings up a picture of Paul McGrath at the 1994 World Cup.

When Williams tries to explain to friends and hospital staff what Brexit is, he is met by incredulity – why on earth would the UK want to leave the EU when they clearly have the best deal available by being members?

Williams then sneaks out of the hospital and wanders the streets of Britain in a daze, finding racist assaults at pre-2016 levels, peace in Northern Ireland and a fully functioning car industry.

The film has received five-star reviews and is tipped for Bafta success, with one critic writing, “Curtis specialises in these complete fantasies, like Love Actually, where a British Prime Minister actually grew a spine and stood up for something on principle.”

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