Netflix’s answer to HBO’s Normal People is definitely giving the devastating Sally Rooney series adaptation a run for its money, because One Day has had the streamer’s Top 10 under its spell ever since its Feb. 8 release. Never mind the highly anticipated drops of shows like Love is Blind and Avatar: The Last Airbender ⏤ this irresistible romantic dramedy is not letting up.
Like Normal People, One Day adapts a popular book ⏤ David Nicholls’ 2009 eponymous novel ⏤ which centers around a couple’s love story across multiple years and time jumps, with plenty of equally swoon-worthy and devastating turns. Like Normal People (the show), it also spotlights two largely under-used actors from the British Isles, Leo Woodall (Dexter) and Ambika Mod (Emma), with chemistry so sizzling that people are slowly losing their sanity on social media.
In case you’re not familiar with either the book or the homonymous movie from 2011 starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, Dexter and Emma’s love story begins on the evening of their graduation from university and continues across 20 years, revisiting the couple on the same day year after year. The show has become a Netflix phenomenon, making it to the top 10 in over 80 countries and taking hold of the top spot globally, per FlixPatrol. For reference, Avatar: The Last Airbender, the live-action adaptation of the immensely popular animated series from the aughts, is steadily occupying the chart’s fifth position, while Netflix’s reality darling Love is Blind has only made it to number 4. Japan’s House of Ninjas and true crime docuseries Can I Tell You a Secret? occupy the rest of the podium in third and second place, respectively.
Despite its streaming success and equally appetizing 93% Certified Fresh critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, don’t expect One Day to get a second season. The show is labeled a limited series and there are no plans to expand the story beyond what’s covered in Nicholls’ novel.
