‘Yesterday’ on HBO: That Beatles Cameo Gave Fans Something They’ve Always Wanted

Warning: This article contains Yesterday spoilers for the ending of the film.

The movie Yesterday—which airs on HBO tonight at 8 p.m. ET—might not be a perfect movie for film lovers, but for Beatles lovers, it’s nothing short of catnip. For one thing, the film—which is about a young musician who suddenly finds himself in a world where no one remembers the Beatles—is chock-full of Beatles songs. Like with Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman, and the rest of the recent jukebox movies, it’s hard not to love a movie that’s constantly playing your favorite songs.

For another, the Yesterday twist ending delivered Beatles fans a visual they’ve always longed to see: John Lennon in his 70s. Here’s how it happens: Yesterday—which was directed by Danny Boyle and written by Richard Curtis—is about Jack Malik (Himesh Patel), who becomes a famous musician using the Beatles’ music after he realizes he’s the only one who remembers the world’s most famous band. But soon, Jack starts running out of Beatles songs that he remembers how to play. As he becomes more and more famous, he also learns more and more about this weird Beatle-less alternate universe. One side effect? John Lennon never became a world-famous celebrity who was murdered at the age of 40 by an unstable fan.

Instead, John Lennon, who would have been 78 when Yesterday came out, is an old man living in a small house on by the sea in England. In a sweet and heartbreaking scene, Jack goes to visit him. The whole movie has been building toward a cameo of sorts—and most fans naturally assumed the cameo would be Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr—so when the door opens to reveal actor Robert Carlyle as the spitting image of John Lennon, but with the wrinkles of a man who actually got to live a full life, it’s an emotional plot twist, to say the least.

Jack asks John if he’s had a happy life. “Very,” Lennon replies.

“But not successful,” Jack says.

“I just said, ‘very happy,'” Lennon says back. “That means, ‘successful.'” (Some Beatles fans might recognize that line—the real-life Beatles supposedly once said something very similar, though there is no proof he actually said it, beyond Facebook posts claiming that he did.)

Lennon tells Jack he spent his life doing a job he loved, sailed the world, fought for things he believed in, and fell in love. When Jack confesses his own romantic woes with his friend Ellie (Lily James) is in shambles, Lennon says the secret to a good life is not complicated: “Tell the girl that you love that you love her, and tell the truth to everyone, whenever you can”

Carlyle might not sound like Lennon, but he looks him, and the visual of an aging John Lennon is more than enough to move any Beatles fan. Whether you’re a Gen Z Beatles fan or you saw them in concert in 1965, it’s a powerful image of what should have been.

Where to watch Yesterday