Review of the Netflix Show: "One Day"
“It’s one of the great cosmic mysteries. How it is that someone can go from being a total stranger to being the most important person in your life.” It is strange really, how people shape who we are and each experience adds to our own story. Part of my story is my love for romance movies/shows and adoring the act of love from afar. I’ve always been one to get excited over new rom-com movies or shows, watching two people fall in love while laughing over silly things that occur along the way. This series, however, was so different.
“One Day” began as a best-selling novel that was first adapted into a 2011 film that starred Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. Now, in time for Valentine's Day, this film has become a 14-episode show that was recently released on Netflix. Becoming the most-watched series globally during the week of February 12th with 9.9 million viewers. Those watching will follow the storyline of Dexter and Emma who meet on the night of graduation, July 15th. With university completed, they stay up late talking about what they wish for their futures. The next morning they go their separate ways, but every year on July 15th, we see how far each of them has come, both good and bad.
Watching this show differed from any other romance show I have watched before. At first, it felt as though I was trudging through mud, wanting them to just fall in love already. Yes, I am aware that is not how romance shows go, or even real life, but the characters immediately had so much chemistry on screen. From the start, my eyes were glued to the screen and entranced by the accents. Having the setting of the show being mainly located in England only enhanced the romance and warm feeling that love creates.
We watch Emma and Dexter's separate lives unfold, but somehow they both end up coming back to one another. As they each explore dating other people and learning the ways of adult life, they stay in contact, being one another's comfort person through whatever life throws their way. This only leaves us to wonder: are they really just friends? “One Day” shows us that some of their most important moments together we miss as viewers are not necessarily as important as we thought. Yet, other smaller moments that we do get to experience, seem to matter much more than we could have ever imagined. This is what makes this show so beautiful. Spanning over 20 years, we don’t get the instant satisfaction that other romance shows provide involving a happily ever after. “One Day” is raw in its storytelling, showing just how long it can truly take to find your forever person. Even though I hint at a happy ending, this show left me in tears for a reason, but you’ll just have to watch to find out why.
Sitting on the couch with my mom, we started this series a couple of hours before dinner. My siblings were out with friends and my dad wasn’t exactly up for a romance show as much as my mom and I were. We ended up watching the entirety of the show, both running out of tissues as it came to an end. I had never cried so much watching a romance show before. Both my tears and the ending of the show caught me off guard.
As tears continued to fall, my mom and I laughed at one another for finding ourselves so invested in the storyline. Still in disbelief, we slowly made our way upstairs to finally head to bed. It's been more than a week since then, and I still find myself thinking about how it ends. I still wonder the same thing that the series had yet to answer: “How it is that someone can go from being a total stranger to being the most important person in your life.”
