My friend and I started the new Netflix limited series One Day together on a Friday night. We were instantly hooked on Dexter and Emma’s story, enthralled by the 20 year long journey that elapses over 14 episodes. Sunday morning after watching the final episode, we sat on FaceTime with tears streaming down our faces, wishing we could start the whole thing from the beginning.
Based off of the novel by David Nicholls, One Day begins in the year 1988 as college students Dexter Mayhew (Leo Woodall) and Emma Morely (Ambika Mod) meet for the first time at a party. They instantly connect after sharing the unforgettable night together, and from that day on their lives are entwined forever. Almost every episode following leaps one year in the future, giving the viewers a glimpse of where Dexter and Emma are in their lives and how the other plays a role in it.
Dexter and Emma’s relationship is enthralling right from the beginning. Friends, lovers, enemies; they’ve been everything to each other. But, after everything they go through in their lives, they always find their way back to each other. Shows rarely make me cry, but I developed such an affinity for the characters thanks to Woodall and Mod’s electric chemistry. Dexter and Emma go through many different phases of life throughout the show, which could be hard to portray, but both actors do so flawlessly. They both deserve the love that One Day is getting and more, and I hope to see them in more media soon to come.
Not only do the actors exceed in there performances, but the screenwork is cinematic, sophisticated, and deliberate. Director Molly Manners (Here Boy) and writer Nicole Taylor (Wild Rose, Three Girls) set the scenes with beautiful city and landscapes, but also convey the heavy emotions with lighting and camera placing. Because the plot stretches out over such a long period of time, there are many different settings that Manners and Taylor masterfully transition between.
I will say though, the episodes are on the shorter side, and certain ones leave you feeling like nothing significantly changed in the plot. But clearly, that didn’t stop me from binge watching the whole thing in less than two days. I believe the show only gets better the more you watch it, and it especially will get you more emotionally invested as well.
If you are looking for a new romance to binge, or you’re just looking for a good cry, One Day will definitely check off all the boxes for you.
