The entertainment world is full of unforgettable stories and tales that continue to be revisited years after their release. While some leave us with a sense of bittersweet satisfaction, others leave a lasting imprint due to their heart-shattering plot. Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess’ One Day comes in the latter category.
Based on the novel of the same name by David Nicholls, the film is a raw, unfiltered tearjerker, perfectly capturing the brutal reality of life’s unpredictability. And its ending is sure to leave anyone destroyed.
Anne Hathway’s One Day‘s Ending is Infuriatingly Heartbreaking
David Nicholls’s 2009 novel One Day, on the outside, seems like a light romance between two friends who, despite their mutual attraction, choose not to be more than friends. Over the course of the novel and later its 2011 movie adaptation, we explore their lives, as they fall in love with different people and ultimately end up together. Seemingly a real heartwarming drama, it is by the end that we face the true reality of life: unpredictability.
Starring as Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew, Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgis (respectively) do an impeccable job at portraying their respective characters, convincing us that their ‘just friends’ relationship couldn’t have been more wrong. So while we keep rooting for them to end up together, they finally do so in the very end only for Emma to end up dead in a road accident.
A shocking and devastating turn for a love story that had been simmering for over 20 years, it isn’t just heartbreaking but infuriating as well. The sudden tragic conclusion, not only feels like a punch to the gut but leaves you questioning the reality of life and the lesson to seize the opportunity when it presents itself instead of backing down out of fear.
One Day Director Has No Regrets about the Movie’s Ending
It is a norm in Hollywood that whenever a book adaptation is made the makers choose to take more than a few liberties for the sake of storytelling. Remember how My Sister’s Keeper changed the ending and ended up causing quite a storm? Well on the other hand, even when many would have loved One Day movie adaptation to have a different ending, the film remains pretty faithful to the book.
And director Lone Scherfig has no qualms about the ending, despite many still heartbroken over Emma’s tragic death. In a recent interview with Slate, when asked how she felt about the controversial aspect of the book/movie, Scherfig remarked,
It was one of the reasons why it was meaningful to make the film. I thought, This is what gives the story depth. It’s where the story becomes about: How do we live our lives, and what values do we live by?… But I don’t know what film it would have been if she hadn’t died. She could also have decided to just leave him and say, ‘Sorry, it’s too late. I have a better life without you than with you’—that was not an option. Also, we knew that people loved the book, so we had to be faithful to the book—and it was David’s decision.
Well, while the movie’s end might not be what many had hoped for, it is nonetheless as Scherfig said what adds depth to the overall story. A powerful portrayal of love, loss, and the bittersweet nature of existence, the book was recently adapted into a Netflix series, which is just as faithful and heartbreaking as the movie and the book.
2011’s One Day can be rented on Prime Video, while One Day the series is available to be streamed on Netflix.
