Kate McKinnon brings laughs, Lily James tears in these exclusive Yesterday clips

Kate McKinnon and Lily James believe in Yesterday.

The two actresses feature in Yesterday, a film which imagines a world in which everyone but Jack (Himesh Patel) forgets The Beatles ever existed. Using this strange phenomenon to his advantage, Jack sets out to write down the words and melodies to every Beatles song he can remember — and pass them off as his own.

This sets him on a journey which takes him to Los Angeles and an overbearing manager, Debra (Kate McKinnon) — but it also tears him away from his best friend Ellie (Lily James), who's been nursing romantic feelings for him for years. Ed Sheeran also stars as a tongue-in-cheek version of himself, who uses his pop star credentials to discover and elevate Jack.

Before Yesterday hits theaters June 28, EW has your first look at two exclusive clips from the hotly anticipated film from director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) and screenwriter Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral). In one, Ellie and Jack have a do-or-die moment where he finally wakes up to the romantic connection between them — but now that he's famous and embarking on a completely different life, Ellie insists it's too late for them. Their paths have diverged too much.

The other clip showcases McKinnon at her comedic best, giving Jack a verbal dressing-down during a matter-of-fact assessment of his appearance and all the things they'll need to do to make him the biggest musician in the world.

"[The story] becomes global through Jack's eyes and it's amazing to see it grow from such a normal story to something huge but it always has that heart to it, that's what Richard [Curtis] is so great at doing, it retains that beautiful British heart of something that Richard has written, but then the cinematic scale of Danny, which is a perfect combination," star Himesh Patel previously told EW.

Yesterday hits theaters June 28.

Related content:

• Yesterday star Himesh Patel on The Beatles, Ed Sheeran, and color-blind casting
• Danny Boyle's Yesterday trailer sees a world without The Beatles