By Giorgia Caso and Bethan Croft
One Day quickly became sensationalised again as the Netflix Show became a hit. Readers returned to the book and new fans were drawn to the novel by David Nicholls. Now with a book, film and Netflix Show present to showcase the story - what were the main differences in how the plot was presented in each adaptation compared to the original novel?
The Film
The director of One Day is David Nicholls, the author of One Day (the novel), which makes the film in certain ways more faithful to the book than the Netflix series. And yet, as it is a film so a relatively short medium compared to a whole Netflix show, many adjustments were made to ensure that the main scenes and messages were included in it. Life is unpredictable which is shown since the beginning of the movie. Significant days, like St Swithin's Day, are mentioned at the start establishing these key features, as the beginning and ending of films are the main things we remember.
The opening scene is unusual: it is a foreshadowing which sees Emma swimming and then riding her bike. This all seems to be her daily routine yet not many know that it is also what brought her to her death towards the end of the story. The film comes across as more cinematic so every second matters more because of their intensity. The dialogue is brief and concise: what the characters say is carefully selected. There is no time to think because of the length of the film. And also as it is a different format, it was mainly made for cinemas and to be watched on a big screen so this makes it more powerful in the choices David Nicholls made. In fact, one of the most striking features of the movie is the pace: everything happens really fast and, as it is not even two hour long, every single year (that is how the story is told) is shown within a few minutes.
In the film, there are also many differences. For example, Dexter is on holidays in France when he teaches yet in the novel he is in Italy. When Emma moves to London, Dexter helps her move in which doesn't happen in the book. While she was working at a Mexican restaurant, at one point Dexter waits for her to finish. In the film, they have a deep conversation about their future at the restaurant itself while in the original story she finishes working and they have a similar discussion but at a park. The year after, they go on holiday to Greece but in the film they go to the South of France. This might have been more of a technical adjustement as maybe it would have been easier to film in France than in Greece.
And yet, the main scenes are in both the film and the Netflix show such as when Dexter puts suncream on Emma. He also comments about her bathing suit saying 'Scooped quite low, isn't it?' and Emma's response is 'Good job I didn't put it on backwards!' which also shows her witticism and sarcasm. This scene might appear frivolous but it shows their chemistry and their desire for each other that they try to resist.
Regarding characters, there are certain secondary ones like Dexter's dad who is more accurate in the film than in the Netflix show, even though he is well portrayed in both. Tilly, in the film, is closer to the novel than in the show as she is not Emma's best friend but just a secondary character in her life.
At the same time though, there are scenes that I found crucial in the novel that didn't make it in the film. One of my favourite scenes in both the novel and Netflix show is when Emma and Dexter go into a maze at Tilly's wedding.
Now they have arrived at the entrance to the maze, a neatly trimmed privet hedge affair, a good ten feet high, its entrance marked by a heavy wooden door. Emma paused, her hand on the iron handle. 'Is this a good idea?'
This whole scene is absent in the film which I found fundamental to the imagery it carries regarding their relationship.
When Emma dies at the end, in the film it is more abrupt and unexpected and there is no music for a while which makes it more impactful. And also, like in the novel, Emma is still alive for a little bit when she is on the ground and we can see it because of her eyes moving. For those who read the book, they know that she thinks about what Dexter will make of her death and that makes this scene sadder than it actually seems.
On the whole, even though the film has more similarities to the book, it still is another medium and therefore had to have adjustements. Choices were made to convey elements that the director wanted to include.
The Netflix Show
One of the first and possibly most insignificant differences I noticed between reading the book and watching the Netflix Show, was that Emma has red hair in the novel. I'm not sure what else to say about this, maybe it was overlooked by the producers of the series or deemed as an unimportant feature that didn't need highlighting in the series.
Another slightly more significant difference was the difference in dynamic between Emma and Tilly in the series compared to the novel. Netflix shows their friendship to be teasing and familiar and close to that of a bond between a pair of female best friends. Although Dexter soon becomes a very close friend of hers too, her relationship with Tilly remains even throughout adulthood. From being flatmates at university, to letting Emma stay with her in London, to Emma bonding with Tilly's children (despite her feeling quite uncomfortable by children at that phase of her life), to her being an attendee at Tilly's wedding and Tilly showing up unannounced with a few others on Dexter's doorstep on the anniversary of Emma's death. Whereas in the book, Emma is quite passive in her rare mentions and descriptions of Tilly. Whilst Tilly is only briefly named a few times throughout, it seems she is replaced by a few other minor side characters that Emma befriends. It is also important to point out that Tilly slept with Dexter in the novel (a fact that quite shocked me when reading, as I had seen the Netflix series first.) I believe this shows the unimportance of their friendship in the novel, as Emma laughs at the fact Dexter tried to hide that he slept with Tilly, almost like the whole scenario is a joke. If they had been close friends, Emma would have been a whole lot more bothered that her friend slept with Dexter. Overall, I prefer Netflix's version of the friendship between Tilly and Emma, although David Nicholls' novel may be slightly more realistic - not every friend we make lasts for life.
On the topic of friendship, another relationship that surprised me in the novel, was the friendship between Ian and Emma. In the series, Emma had found Ian quite irritating before she dated him (and she often shared the same sentiment whilst they were partners.) However, in the book, they become very close friends and if this detail had been kept in the series maybe it would've made more sense that Ian had shown up at her deathiversary in the show. This was a detail that had slightly baffled me when watching, because Ian shows up in a room with all of Emma’s closest friends (plus Sylvie, Dexter’s ex-wife), despite the fact he hasn’t seen her in years. Maybe even though he is married and moved on, he still holds a candle of adoration for his first love, or maybe I’m entirely overthinking it!
The reunion at the anniversary of her death was also done quite differently in the series and book. In the original novel, the conversation of acknowledgment that it’s Emma’s day is done over the phone. Whilst both versions of the scene are harrowingly heartbreaking, I’d say having that conversation over the phone makes me feel even worse for Dexter as he deals with the grief alone and spirals into loneliness. In the series, the support group seem to want to relive her memories and are anxious about ensuring that Dexter takes care of himself.
One of the most iconic references in both versions, is the location of Arthur’s Seat and the cyclical importance of Emma taking Dexter there when they first meet and then him revisiting after her death. However, in the novel Arthur’s Seat isn’t mentioned until the very end as a reflection of their first moments together. Whereas this is one of the opening scenes for the series. The Netflix Show create further symbolism by making Emma wear a yellow coat in the scene where they walk up the hill and at the end when Dexter takes his daughter to the same spot, a patch of yellow flowers lies where Emma once had.
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