With a novel released in 2009 and a movie adaptation starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess in 2011, one would think yet another adaptation of “One Day” would be unnecessary. Still, Netflix proved us all wrong by releasing the romance drama in a fourteen-episode limited series at the beginning of February, starring Ambika Mod and Leo Wood.
“One Day” follows the long and winding love story between Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley across roughly two decades, starting on their graduation night in the late 1980s. Each episode of the series showcases a single day of the year, July 15, also known as St. Swithin's Day, throughout a total of twenty years as we explore Emma and Dex’s ever-evolving relationship, witnessing them as strangers, friends, lovers, and everything in between.
This story fits into the same genre as Sally Rooney’s “Normal People” and Coco Mellors’s “Cleopatra and Frankenstein,” which are stories that dive into the evolution of people and relationships, digging deeper into the characters and painting a vivid and detailed picture of them. All of these characters, especially Emma and Dex, show their lives to the viewers in such a vulnerable way, and the stories put into perspective their personal evolution as they learn to navigate life and mature, as well as the evolution of their relationship as they learn to understand one another better with time. These stories are so insightful and can teach us so much about the self and how one interacts with and can learn from those around them.
I’ll be the first to admit that going into “One Day,” especially in the first half of the show, I was constantly frustrated at the characters. Dex seemed to be too superficial and uncaring, and Emma was too hesitant to pursue what was important to her, constantly cowering behind excuses. The miscommunication trope played a huge role in the story, but as the series progressed, my patience as a viewer was rewarded. I cannot emphasize enough how much Emma and Dex evolved and how beautiful that evolution and progression was. Not only did they truly become themselves, but their relationship blossomed. Even after some very rough patches and even a period of time of “no contact,” they managed to really grow into themselves and make the most of their relationship and the connection they had.
Besides a beautiful story, “One Day” was an artfully-crafted series. The music choices were amazing, with songs such as “Waterloo Sunset” by the Kinks and “Lilac Wine” by Jeff Buckley included that really captured the story nicely. The camerawork was also gorgeous, and it really was an aesthetically pleasing series, with beautiful shots, amazing graphics, and eye-catching costumes.
I don’t think I can recommend this series enough. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since finishing it on Valentine’s Day, and the lesson it teaches us is an important one that everyone should know and abide by. As a parting, here is one of my favorite quotes from the series:
“I’m not being a footnote.”
“A footnote?”
“Yeah. In the story of your life.”
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.