How ‘One Day’ Netflix Series Wrecked me (No Spoilers)
One Day originated as a novel by David Nicholls, then adapted into a 2011 film (starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess) and now into a Netflix series with Ambika Mod (This Is Going To Hurt) and Leo Woodall (White Lotus). At first I was hesitant to dive into the series, because the film nearly did me in.
The book, the movie and the Netflix series all thankfully follow the same line of characters and general storyline. Emma and Dexter meet at the end of their graduate year at University of Edinburgh. Their first night was meant to be a one-night stand, but instead turned into a lifelong friendship stemming from deep rooted unrequited love for another. We follow Emma and Dexter throughout their friendship-sometimes-courtship and even through their temporary emotional separation from one another. That’s all I will say about the plot for those who haven’t read or watched the film (even though the series is a bit different).
I loved the filming style, which felt authentic, like we were actually living in the late 80’s and 90’s. Nothing looked like a soundstage. More than just hairstyle transformations and wardrobe, everything from the lighting and set design transported us to a time when no smartphones existed. No moronic texts back and forth, just panic messages left on answering machines. (For any Gen Z’er reading, that was a small square box placed next to an actual landline push button phone that at that time you had to be home to retrieve phone messages) The soundtrack is brilliant and nostalgic.
What I like about Emma: She knows what she doesn’t want, yet struggles with what it is she really wants. We can all relate to that. From the first moment with Dexter, she knew that she didn’t want to be just another girl, which remained a factor throughout their friendship. Even with the passionate sexual tension, Emma never changed herself to try and fit in to what Dexter was normally used to as far as intimate relationships.
What I like about Dexter: He never objectified Emma as a sex object, his interests with her from their first night together was to get to know who she was, intellectually and personally. I suppose that’s what separated her from the high turnover of Dexter’s girlfriends.
What I disliked about Dexter: Once his insecurities rolled in particularly when it came to his rising career with the masses or at his lowest when it pertained to family, it was always Emma he needed for rescue, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Obviously Emma always came to his mind, because it was Emma that he trusted to be at his most vulnerable and true self.
The thing about this story for me is that it resembles a lot of a past yet ongoing tale of my own. I have a Dex and we also met post-grad, started out as mutually interested, then close digital/online friends (ours was/is long distance), then lovers, then friends, present day question marks.
With some similarities to Emma and Dexter’s up’s and downfalls that I had with mine, we shared adventures, the kind that we’ll reminisce about in our golden years or read as a page from a long lost journal entry. The timing was never (or still is) right for us. He was with someone, then I wasn’t with anyone. I was with someone, when he wasn’t with anyone. There were times when we were both with a someone and somehow still we were each other’s Emma and Dexter. Once my Dex flew over an ocean to visit me, for no special occasion except that he had something to tell me. I was so excited to see him, all the way from London only to hear me say that I was currently seeing someone.
