That’s the conceit of “Yesterday,” a movie directed by Danny Boyle (of “Slumdog Millionaire” fame) and written by Richard Curtis (of “Notting Hill” and “Love, Actually” fame).

The three movies below take that to a whole new level. These films have used one artist's catalog to completely shape a storyline.

Tentatively, Jack starts singing “Yesterday” and some other Beatles songs to small groups of friends, and when he does one on a local TV show, it catches the eye of Ed Sheeran, who invites ...