Based on the 2009 novel by David Nicholls, Netflix’s limited series “One Day” starring Ambika Mod (Emma Morley) and Leo Woodall (Dexter Mayhew) is a beautiful, heartfelt and devastating adaptation that meditates on friendship and the march of time. If you liked “Normal People” by Sally Rooney or the “Before Sunrise” trilogy directed by Richard Linklater, you’ll be smitten with this show and its main characters Emma and Dexter, who are friends/lovers/everything in between. I feel I have to warn you though, while worth the watch, you will need to take a few days to recover from the ending.
Taking place every year on July 15th, each episode gives us a snapshot of Emma and Dexter’s lives as they progress over time from the late 80s to the early 2000s. When the show starts, it is the day of their graduation from the University of Edinburgh where Emma and Dexter meet by (literally) bumping into each other at a grad party. Immediately sparks fly and the two go back to Emma’s and spend a night just talking and sleeping and spend the whole next day together, and thus their friendship is born.
A big part of what made the show so special is the chemistry between Mod and Woodall. Throughout the series, there are so many longing glances and secret smiles that would not have cut so deep if handled by any other pair of actors. You can tell the two care about each other on and off screen.
As characters, Dexter and Emma are both lost about the direction their lives will take. Dexter comes from a wealthy family and doesn’t quite know what he wants at the beginning of the series. He gets a job in television after graduating and works in television, a career that brings him money and fame but doesn’t fulfill him. In relationships, he flits from one affair to the next and only takes solace in Emma and his mom. Emma is witty, intuitive and caring. She’s a character so painfully relatable as a young woman about to graduate and scared out of her mind. Like Dexter, after graduation, she loses sight of what she wants and tries many different jobs before finding one she loves. Throughout it all though, the one constant the two have is each other.
One of my favorite lines is a line said by Dexter to Emma: “You have all these people telling you all the time how great you are. You know, smart, funny and talented and all that I mean endlessly, so why don’t you believe it?”
Over the years, the unbreakable bond (or invisible string) between Emma and Dexter is what keeps them bound together through the show’s highs and lows. The struggle that both characters face in life, love and their careers is refreshing to see on screen and highlights the beauty in the unknowns that life presents.
With heart-wrenching performances, an enchanting soundtrack and a script incredibly faithful to the original novel, this series is one of the best Netflix has put out. A comforting portrayal of figuring life out in your 20s, “One Day” is a necessary watch for anyone unsure about the future and in need of a good cry. Go watch! (With tissues)