I wrote this piece back in 2011 and posted it on the Yume community network. Today, after reading a note from a friend—an older sister figure who helped me share my blog posts with the world before she stepped away—I went digging to copy my old writings from there. Who knows, maybe one day…
The story of Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew starts on a bed. It’s the morning after their college graduation, and they’re wondering what the next 20 years will bring. They’d planned to do that thing everyone assumes, but instead, they just hold each other, talking like best friends about the distant dreams of youth. That day was July 15, 1988—St. Swithin’s Day. Legend has it, if it rains that day, the next 40 days will follow suit. But for Emma and Dexter, it takes 20 years to find their love.
From that first July 15, every event, every scene in the film jumps to the next July 15 in the years that follow. Emma dreams of becoming a writer, of doing something bold to shake up the world around her. Dexter travels the globe, rises as a famous TV host with a flashy life and gorgeous girlfriends, only to crash back to nothing. They love each other, admit it even, but they stick to being friends. For Dexter, girls are just a physical need, and he’s terrified of hurting his soulmate. For Emma, it’s her own lack of confidence holding her back. There’s a gap between them—class, wealth, and their own insecurities. Still, they stay close, leaning on each other for 20 years until they finally come together in romantic Paris, Dexter divorced and Emma a published writer.
The movie’s adapted from David Nicholls’ novel of the same name—a bestseller in the UK during the summer of 2009 when it hit shelves.
Twenty years, 20 July 15ths, and not a single rainy day. But when rain finally falls where Dexter is, a massive event turns his life upside down.
It’s a simple, gentle film, like 500 Days of Summer, which I’ve seen before. That one’s about young people figuring themselves out, but One Day carries a hint of reflection, regret, and quiet fulfillment.
After watching it, I started to make sense of something that puzzled me back in college—those lyrics from “Said I Loved You… But I Lied” about “not loving because you love too much.” They love each other but can’t bridge the gap to stay together forever. Only near the end of their journey, after all the storms, do they choose to commit. But time doesn’t give them what they want. Really, who can say what 20 years from now will look like?