One Day (2024)

Dear reader, give me a slow burn romance. Give me the right person at the wrong time. Give me a love story that will leave me wrecked for weeks without me ever having seen it coming. Give me heartache, pain, and most of all give me an Indian actress in an English show who isn’t there for the sole purpose of being Indian! That is One Day. 

This was the number one watched show of last month on Netflix with 9.9 million views and it has that spot for a reason. So if you are one of the few people who haven't watched it, what are you doing?

This easily binge able 14 episode Netflix show can be finished in a day and the best part is how utterly realistic it is. The show is entertaining, dramatic and relatable and tells a tale that could very well happen in real life. Leo Woodwall who plays Dexter (the male lead) portrays a deeply flawed character who is not always loveable and makes plenty of mistakes but who doesn't? This character is real and deep and completely messed up and Leo conveys all of this perfectly. As a rising star, Woodwall isn’t exactly well known which makes his performance all that much better because there are no expectations for him and yet he has set them sky high from this show. It truly goes to show how good his acting is, without the star power behind him. Then there is Ambika Mod who plays Emma Morley (the female lead). Emma similarly is a character who feels so realistic. She has her quirks, she talks too much sometimes, she makes mistakes and she learns from them. Through the 14 episodes we watch her grow and mature as a young woman and she becomes a very likeable character. 

However, the thing that stands out the most about Ambika is the fact that she is an Indian actress playing a role that does not require her to make her character's entire personality Indian. While we love a bit of representation for different cultures, it feels refreshing to watch this show and see her not for her skin but for her character. I personally have only seen this before in Bridgeton which also did a fantastic job. Ambika Mod originally turned down the role of Emma Morley because she said “I just didn’t see myself as a romantic lead.” There is also something to be said about an Indian actress as the love interest who was initially written to be white and that is how little it happens. Ambika even expressed that this was a part of the reason that she felt wrong for the role initially. There was also the fact that she would have had to follow after Anne Hathaway’s role as Emma Morley in the 2011 film adaption of One Day. While we all know that Anne Hathaway is a phenomenal actress, I have not seen that adaption on One Day. I do not feel that I need to because in this Netflix adaptation, Ambika captured the essence of Emma Morley to perfection. We are lucky as viewers that she said yes to the role because the entire show would not be the same without her. 

That's enough about the lead actors now. I’ve said it before but I will say it again because I think it is so important and it is what stood out in this show most of all. The show is realistic. The story is raw and a real representation of life. Maybe there is a right time for people. Or maybe the right time doesn't exist and you have to make it the right time on your own because if you don’t you will look back and wish you had given yourself the opportunity rather than waiting for it to fall into your lap. 

The point is, if you haven’t watched the show then what are you still doing here? Go and watch it and I suggest you take a box of tissues with you. Just trust me on that one.