Reception
During the film's festival run it received generally positive reviews.
In a review published after the film's U.S. theatrical opening, Variety praised the film's "stunning black-and-white HD cinematography" and "impressively atmospheric tone" and its recreation of the "classical Hollywood aesthetic". The film's "sultry jazz score" was also singled out for mention. However, the review also criticized the casting of the film—calling the acting "stiff" and "hopelessly amateurish"—as well as the plot, which it described as a "clunky David Lynchian cosmic mystery" leading to "grand (yet underwhelming) revelations about the nature of reality."
Other mainstream reviewers were critical of the film as well. Kevin Thomas in the Los Angeles Times wrote that "The film seems like an atmospheric shampoo commercial in which glamorous models pose in gritty back alleys with fog machines going full force. ... There's lots of talk about the 'interconnected of consciousness' and 'the totality of consciousness' and how those who can plug into it can control reality ... film is hard to connect with and is way too vague to inspire the urge to try to do so." while John Wheeler in LA Weekly wrote that the film's "pitch" was "'a metaphysical noir about a beautiful alcoholic detective searching for the key to understanding nonlinear time'" but commented that the "film can’t hope to live up to that premise, and it doesn’t." It comments that "the film jumps around aimlessly, repeating dialogue and images of Hoyle’s search while using non sequitur discussions of Dalí and Eliot to justify its often impenetrably surreal structure." It praises the film as being in "gorgeous black-and-white and lit by some extremely competent artisans" but concludes that "the film is finally too disjointed and incomprehensible to be enjoyed as much else besides an exercise in style."
Film Threat magazine gave Yesterday four-and-a-half stars and named it one of the 10 best films of the year from the festival circuit. The Epoch Times newspaper, Collider.com, Ain't It Cool, and KGO resident film critic Dennis Willis also all reviewed the film positively, with Willis calling Yesterday "nothing less than the arrival of a major filmmaker." Author Robert J. Sawyer blogged that the movie was "the most thoughtful and compelling science fiction film of 2009" (a quote subsequently used in press materials). The film received a positive review from The Numbers following its DVD release.
Yesterday Was a Lie has a rating of 83% on the Rotten Tomatoes website.
Read more about this topic: Yesterday Was A Lie
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