Yes Day
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''Yes Day'' is a 2021 American
family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Miguel Arteta Miguel Arteta (born 1965) is a Puerto Rican director of film and television, known for his independent film ''Chuck & Buck'' (2000), for which he received the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, and for the films ''The Good Girl'' (2002) ...
, from a screenplay and screen story by Justin Malen, based upon the children's book of the same name by
Amy Krouse Rosenthal Amy Krouse Rosenthal (April 29, 1965 – March 13, 2017) was an American author of both adult and children's books, a short film maker, and radio show host. She is best known for her memoir ''Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life'', her children's pic ...
and Tom Lichtenheld. It stars
Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Compan ...
,
Édgar Ramírez Édgar Filiberto Ramírez Arellano (, born 25 March 1977) is a Venezuelan actor. Ramírez studied communications at the Andrés Bello Catholic University. He then worked in media and considered becoming a diplomat. When Guillermo Arriaga prai ...
, and
Jenna Ortega Jenna Marie Ortega (born September 27, 2002) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress, receiving recognition for her role as young Jane in The CW comedy-drama series ''Jane the Virgin'' (2014–2019). Her breakthrough ro ...
. It was released on March 12, 2021 on
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the acting (particularly that of Ortega) but criticized its writing and humor. At the
2021 Imagen Awards The 36th Annual Imagen Awards, presented by the Imagen Foundation to honor Latino talent and contributions within television and film, were held on October 10, 2021 with the winners announced via a virtual ceremony on PBSSoCal.org and KECT.org. ...
, Ortega was nominated for Best Actress in a Feature Film.


Plot

Allison and Carlos Torres are married with three children: Katie, Nando, and Ellie. When they first met, they were adventurous and said yes to everything. However, once having children, they feel they must say no to protect them. One evening, they are called into a parent-teacher conference at school where they discover Katie and Nando have both submitted homework calling their mom a dictator. Allison expresses frustration that her children perceive her this way and tells Carlos that she feels he makes her play the role of "bad cop" with their children. Mr. Deacon, a school employee, and father of six overhears and shares with them that he maintains order in his house by having a 'yes day' from time to time: one 24-hour period where the parents cannot say no, within reason. Carlos and Allison present the idea to their family, telling them that if they don't get into trouble, do their chores, and keep their grades up, they can have a yes day as a reward. Katie makes a wager with Allison that if her mom makes it through Yes Day, Katie will go to the music festival Fleek Fest with her mother. If she doesn't make it, Katie will be allowed to go with a friend, Layla. The children eventually manage to earn a yes day and put together a list of five activities for the day. The first three are Ellie dressing her parents in crazy outfits and requests that they don't look at anything with a screen on it all day, ordering a massive $40 sundae that is free if they can eat it all in 30 minutes, that they successfully eat, going through a car wash with the windows down, and entering a capture the flag competition, where each family member leads a group; the goal is for one team to catch the others, throwing balloons filled with
Kool-Aid Kool-Aid is an American brand of flavored drink mix owned by Kraft Heinz based in Chicago, Illinois. The powder form was created by Edwin Perkins in 1927 based upon a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack. History Kool-Aid was invented by E ...
at their opponents. Allison wins the game for her team, winning the children's approval. Carlos, however, is tempted to drop out of Yes Day, but ultimately decides he can't bear to disappoint his family. The fourth event is a trip to
Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the Newha ...
. When Katie steps away, Allison sees texts on her daughter's phone from Layla indicating she and Katie will be hanging out with older boys at Fleekfest. Allison tells her that the wager is off and she's going to Fleekfest with her, not Layla. Hurt, Katie storms off. In an attempt to win a pink gorilla for Katie as an apology, Allison and Carlos get into a fight with another park-goer and are arrested. The children sneak away. Katie goes to Fleekfest with Layla but quickly becomes uncomfortable being alone with older boys, and her friend abandons her. Nando stages a "nerd party" at the house as the final big event, but it quickly gets out of control when Ellie accidentally sets off a foam explosion inside the house that was meant for the backyard. Meanwhile, Katie's phone dies while trying to contact her siblings and she panics. With help from
H.E.R. Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson (born June 27, 1997), known professionally as H.E.R. (pronounced "her", an acronym for "Having Everything Revealed"), is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actress. She has received several awards includin ...
, who is performing at the event, Allison finds Katie and they reconcile. H.E.R. is moved and invites them on stage for a song. Carlos arrives home and finally manages to be a disciplinarian, forcing the party to stop and the children to help with the cleanup. As Yes Day draws to a close, Ellie makes one final request. They all spend the night playing games as a family in a tent in the backyard, until Nando's foam bomb (having been flushed down the toilet) starts to fill up the house.


Cast


Production

In September 2018, it was announced that
Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Compan ...
had joined the cast of the film, with
Miguel Arteta Miguel Arteta (born 1965) is a Puerto Rican director of film and television, known for his independent film ''Chuck & Buck'' (2000), for which he received the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, and for the films ''The Good Girl'' (2002) ...
directing from a screenplay by Justin Malen, with
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
distributing. In October 2019,
Jenna Ortega Jenna Marie Ortega (born September 27, 2002) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress, receiving recognition for her role as young Jane in The CW comedy-drama series ''Jane the Virgin'' (2014–2019). Her breakthrough ro ...
,
Édgar Ramírez Édgar Filiberto Ramírez Arellano (, born 25 March 1977) is a Venezuelan actor. Ramírez studied communications at the Andrés Bello Catholic University. He then worked in media and considered becoming a diplomat. When Guillermo Arriaga prai ...
and Julian Lerner joined the cast of the film. In April 2020, Megan Stott announced she had joined the cast of the film.
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began in November 2019 in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.


Reception


Ratings

A week following the film's digital release on March 12, 2021, Netflix reported the film had been watched by 53 million households. A month later, in April 2021 the viewership increased to 62 million households.


Critical response

On
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
the film a has an approval rating of 50% based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 5.10/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Yes Day'' fails to take full advantage of its wish-fulfillment premise, aiming for family fun but settling for harmlessly mediocre." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


Accolades


Sequel

In July 2021, it was announced that a sequel was in development.


References


External links

* * {{Miguel Arteta 2020s English-language films 2021 films 2021 comedy films American comedy films English-language Netflix original films Films directed by Miguel Arteta Films scored by Michael Andrews Films shot in Los Angeles 2020s American films