‘Yes Day’ Review: Heaps of Family Fun

This review was made possible by an advanced screener of Yes Day.

In Netflix’s Yes Day, Jennifer Garner and Édgar Ramírez play Allison and Carlos, two parents known for constantly saying “no” — whether it’s to their kids or their demanding day jobs. But when they agree to a bold experiment, giving their three children 24 hours where the answer to everything is “yes,” chaos, comedy, and a surprisingly heartfelt journey around Los Angeles ensues. What begins as a light-hearted game quickly turns into a madcap adventure that just might bring their family closer than ever.

Fun for All The Family!

With any family film, you always must try and have some fun with them, and when I was watching this film, I found myself laughing quite a bit due to the childish humour which filled the screenplay. The whole idea of a Yes Day sounds so fun, and something I would have loved to do as a kid, this said… there is so much this film could do!

Some examples of what had me cackling – a father-daughter iteration of The Gummy Bear Song, a Haiku about how the daughter was a captured bird and her mother was the captor, and a video presentation referring to Jennifer Garner as the next Mussolini. Another thing I really liked was the opening to the film, a montage of the two parents growing up and meeting each other – doing all these cool, fun things… until it hilariously transitions to life as parents and having to say no to everything the kids do. All positives from the film!

The kids throughout the film are definitely likeable, they’re not bratty, annoying or anything. The highlight from the kids is definitely the big event, towards the end of the film where Nando has become obsessed with baking powder volcanos that his plan is to make a huge one and send all the foam into the garden… however, it all goes wrong and the house becomes one huge foam fest! Brilliant.

Standout Performances from Arturo Castro and Jennifer Garner

The highlight of this film, for me personally was the performance of Office Jones, by Arturo Castro. From his very first moment on screen, he steals the show! From him messing around with some sort of mugshot software at the station, to his gullible moments with the kids where he allows them to leave without supervision. I think if you want a film to be fun, then you need fun characters, and I certainly believe that Yes Day delivered with fun characters.

I think that it is arguable how critical of a family film you can be, however, the only thing that really bugged me whilst watching this film – I just couldn’t stand Jennifer Garner’s character Allison in certain scenes. I could not figure out during my watch what it was… now this could be a deliberate thing through Garner’s performance, but you never know…

‘Yes Day’ – Final Thoughts

Overall, Yes Day is a fun film and definitely recommended for any families wanting to watch a new film on Netflix. It may not be for everyone, but you have a real fun time watching it…

Yes Day is now streaming on Netflix.