One Day (2024)

Flawless adaptation. .... The whole enterprise hangs on Em and Dex, who must be completely believable and lovable, individually and together. They are extraordinary.

Netflix’s retread both embraces and enhances the allure of Scherfig’s 2011 adaptation. (Nicholls himself served as one of the executive producers on the series as well.) The expanded format also allows for deeper storytelling, making each relationship feel far more nuanced and each emotional beat just a little more impactful as a result.

Because of the way the show immediately and intimately invites you into Dexter and Emma's relationship and makes them so easy to root for, there's little doubt that you'll walk away wanting more, and that you might think to yourself that a handful of days — even the lackluster ones — just aren't enough, in the best way possible.

In spite of any bumps along the way, One Day is overall a satisfying, swoon-worthy ride.

The result is a sometimes bumpy litany of bittersweet life lessons: a romcom bathed in shadows. I ended up much more invested than I thought I’d be.

Moments, laden with tenderness and chemistry, make the heartache that much worse. Here is where the series’ real strength lies: With more time dedicated to the story, we can feel its loss that much more keenly.

One Day has found gold in its leading duo, whose chemistry feels timeless and totally captivating. An outstanding showcase of talent.

It is a will-they-or-won’t-they rom-com? Is it a friendship story? Is it a saga about moving into adulthood and figuring out your life and your priorities and enduring heartbreak and loss? Will it make you cry? Yes, it’s all of those things, and it manages to capture all the muddled, complicated, aching emotions of them all.

The show’s twists and turns along the way bring enough surprises and character development to entertain. Some episodes are better than others, or more distinct — they’re a half-hour or so apiece — but ultimately they blend together into something whose strength comes from its breadth. This is one of the times when binging a series might benefit it, rather than robbing it of impact.

Conversation is credible, pitched in the language of real people that age. The heavier stuff—a romance gone sour, a long and grinding struggle with addiction—is deftly handled, with compassion and understatement. One Day is a graceful series, woozy and clear-eyed at once.

If you’re the sentimental type, you’ll watch One Day and ponder the gap between how you thought your life would turn out when you were young, and how it actually did. The rest of us can just enjoy being taken back to a time when arranging a date involved writing a letter, visiting a public call box or – for the real early adopters – owning a mobile phone with a pull-out antenna.

A charming and perceptive Netflix dramedy.

Mod and Woodall have a lovely chemistry that teeters between deep intimacy and sexual tension. Additionally, the show never villainizes the characters, even when they’re at their most atrocious.

As brazenly lovey-dovey as it is, One Day is simply lovely to watch. It’s just the right side of cheesy and irresistibly charming.

“One Day” as a limited series leaves a much stronger impression than it ever could have as a film, minting Mod and Woodall’s chemistry, charm, and adaptability.

While you may need a suspension of disbelief, the show sails past those awkward continuity elements because the writing and the two main actors have such a command of the central relationship. The show also expertly captures the mood and wayward feeling of young adulthood sliding into just plain adulthood.

The ending undermines so much of the charm and goodwill earned in its previous episodes, effectively turning Emma’s whole existence into a lesson in humility for Dexter. And that feels cheap and simple-minded, especially after spending so much time getting to know this pair through the years.

Woodall and Mod are excellent, together and alone. It looks and sounds great (the array of Eighties, Nineties, and Aughts music is killer), and there are some fine moments and even whole episodes. But Dexter and Emma each wonder at different points why it’s taken so long for anything to happen between them, and the structure of One Day will likely leave you just as confused and impatient.

The series spans nearly two decades over 14 meandering episodes, before tripping over one last iffy twist on its way out. But the spark between Emma and Dexter burns bright enough throughout to make the ride more enjoyable than not.

The result is a story that is beautifully depicted, yet can at times feel unbalanced and frustrating.

Despite the increased depth of coverage their relationship receives, the show never quite manages to land a true emotional sucker-punch. Those watching for the novel’s famed tearjerker quality will find the show front-loaded with the petty agonies of early-career life, and rather lighter on the sweeping romantic undercurrents of the star-crossed source material.