One Day, Netflix’s new romantic drama series. The latest adaptation of David Nicholls’s 2009 critically acclaimed novel — Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess starred in the 2011 film of the same name — premiered on Netflix on Feb. 8 and was an immediate hit.
The 14-episode series follows protagonists Emma and Dexter over the course of 20 years as they come of age and navigate adulthood, all while toggling between friends and something more. While the feature film cast Hathaway and Sturgess as its leads, the Netflix series stars This Is Going to Hurt actress Ambika Mod as Emma and The White Lotus actor Leo Woodall as Dexter.
Perhaps the most noticeable change from the 2011 film is the diversity of the cast — namely that Ambika Mod, an Indian-British actress, portrays Emma. In fact, the series even weaves Mod’s casting into the story, as Emma shares that her mom is Hindu and her dad is Christian.
Although the source material has been out for nearly two decades, the Netflix series has managed to leave audiences wrecked. People who finished the series have taken to social media to document their tumultuous emotional journey watching the show. While many first-time viewers appear to be surprised by how heart-wrenching the story is, some admit to having been aware of what happens and still wanted to subject themselves to the pain.
Given the nature of the episodic format, Netflix’s adaptation of One Day digs deeper into Emma and Dexter’s lives. Compared to the film, which clocks in at 1 hour and 47 minutes, the series spans 14 episodes for a total of 6 hours and 40 minutes. The difference in run time may also play a part in the way each adaptation was received critically. On Rotten Tomatoes, the 2011 film has a 36% average rating while the 2024 limited series currently holds a 92% average rating.
Each episode focuses on a year of their lives, offering audiences a greater understanding of their diverging paths and the pivotal moments that shaped them individually. By telling the story in episodic installments, audiences inevitably grow more invested and attached to Emma and Dexter, and whether they’ll finally get their happily ever after.
“It’s so unbelievably heartbreaking — you feel a bit robbed,” Woodall told Netflix’s Tudum of the show’s ending. “I found it quite hard to snap out of it after we finished.”
Mod echoed Woodall’s sentiment but added that it was “only fair” that Emma and Dexter’s story ended the way it did.
“I think that’s what’s heartbreaking about the book — it’s this juxtaposition of these two wide-eyed students and the dreams they have for their future, and then how things actually turn out,” she said.
