Two people, twenty years! After meeting on the night of their University graduation everything will change for Emma and Dexter as they develop a truly incredible relationship and friendship that will span decades.
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Number of Episodes – 14
Running time – 6 hours 34 minutes
***May contain spoilers***
Firstly I want to start by stating that I have read the book and I actually did quite like the film, although it certainly didn’t have enough time to really build the character development and a limited series like that was truly the best way to go for an an incredible story. Spanning over 14 episodes, we start in 1989 and move through each year in each epsiode and all linking to that one day, 15th July when they first spent the day together. We pick up that day each year and go through the happiness, sadness and trauma of being an adult and attempting to have a good life.
From that stage of graduating University, having dreams and ideas of how your life is going to be we get to see that it isn’t as easy as that. Emma and Dexter are very different people and that shows across the friendship as they grow at different stages of life and quite frankly Dexter takes a lot longer to grow up and ends up in some very difficult places. This happens in life and at times you might move away from some of your friends, but real lifetime ones will always be there when you need them.
Putting all of this across the 14 episodes really was the best idea and it allows you to understand the decisions they both make, as let’s face it Emma has a few moments where she does some crazy things as well but it really highlights that nobody is perfect. It makes you realize that in terms of career and ambition that everything can fully change and get worse before it gets better, I think personally that was something I really needed to see and be reminded of right now. You then get the friends beginning to get married and having children, the latter of that is a very tough time of your life when you then don’t have them. It certainly takes some getting used to thats for sure and I felt as though the way it is put across in One Day is exactly how it all feels.
Considering I have read the book and seen the 2011 film I actually forgot how tragic the ending was, and that meant it really did hit very very hard! I was a sobbing mess by the final episode and that is certainly a massive compliment to how this was made and how much I then cared about Emma, Dexter and friends. You feel as though you are part of the journey across the decades and quite frankly you just want to see them happy, and tha is exactly how you feel towards your own friends when they go through difficult times.
Leo Woodall and Ambika Mod are both fantastic as Dexter and Emma, working very well with each other and on their own as well. The chemistry between them isn’t over the top and feels somewhat real, we can see how and why they eventually ended up on the same page as one another after years of attempting to be supportive and the friendship. Amber Grappy is the pick of the support as Tilly, really adding to the network for Emma.
Well done Netflix, an excellent series!
