David Nicholls’ “One Day” has become synonymous with a love story that unfolds over two decades, revisited only on a single day each year. Both the 2011 film and the recently released 2024 Netflix miniseries attempt to capture this bittersweet romance, but with vastly different approaches.

The 2011 film offers a fast-paced glimpse into Emma and Dexter’s lives. Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess deliver strong performances, but the condensed format necessarily trims away some of the novel’s depth. The 2024 Netflix miniseries takes a more expansive approach. The episodic format, mirroring the book’s structure, allows for a much deeper exploration.

Nicholls’ novel offers a personal and introspective look into Emma and Dexter’s lives. Through their internal monologues and diary entries, we gain a deep understanding of their thoughts, feelings, and motivations. The reader becomes a silent observer in their personal journeys, experiencing their joys and heartbreaks firsthand.

The Netflix miniseries takes the core concept of the book and expands upon it. While retaining the focus on July 15th of each year, the show delves deeper into the lives of the characters in the intervening periods. This allows for a richer exploration of their relationships with friends and family, and provides a stronger sense of the world they inhabit.

The novel’s strength lies in its intimacy, allowing readers to truly connect with Emma and Dexter. However, the limited scope can leave some readers wanting more context. The series addresses this by providing a broader perspective, but may sacrifice some of the emotional intensity present in the book’s first-person narration.