Alexa, play “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron.

If you need a new fictional couple to cry about while watching sad TikTok edits to “Waiting Room” by Phoebe Bridgers, Netflix’s “One Day” should be at the top of your list. 

Netflix has somehow managed to create a TV show that made people cry more than anything since “Normal People.” “One Day” is based on David Nicholls’ 2009 book of the same name, which was written nine years before Sally Rooney’s “Normal People.” So, if you think about it, “One Day” walked so “Normal People” could run. If you cried after watching “Normal People,” an extra box of tissues is in order for your “One Day” viewing. 

On July 15, 1988, Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew bump into each other on the dance floor of their college graduation party. They spend the night together which sparks the beginning of a lifelong friendship.

Emma is from a working-class family and wants to make the world a better place. Dexter is a wealthy playboy who thinks the world is his for the taking. For the next 20 years, the two of them continue to reunite on July 15 and slowly realize what they have actually been searching for all these years was each other.

What makes “One Day”’s story structure so unique and emotionally agonizing is that we see Emma and Dexter on the same day, July 15, every year for 20 years. The audience doesn’t witness every emotional beat that happens between them — just the ones that occur on July 15. There are moments in their character development that get to stay just between the two of them, not for our eyes. There are 14 episodes, each about 30 minutes long, which is rare for Netflix, considering the brevity, but a spectacular choice by the creative team. I wish there were even more episodes, but I fear the pain of the last two episodes would be far worse.

Ambika Mod, who plays Emma had her breakout role playing Shruti Acharya in the BBC original series “This Is Going to Hurt.” She is an absolute star in this series, bringing a level of awkwardness to the character that feels universally relatable. Mod’s emotional moments are spectacular, but comedy is her forte. I was hysterically laughing at my screen when Emma got herself into a series of pickles. It is such a funny and beautiful performance that will be taught in the history books.

You may know her co-star Leo Woodall from season two of the hit HBO show “The White Lotus,” where his character makes some questionable decisions regarding his uncle. Season two was not released when Woodall was cast as Dexter in “One Day,” but you didn’t need to see that to know he was bound to be a star. I predict that Woodall will earn an Emmy or Academy Award sometime in the future. Woodall has some of the show's most brutal, emotionally raw scenes, and you can feel his talent shining through every time he is on screen. 

Mod and Woodall have the most magnetic chemistry and taut sexual tension I have seen in a long time. You will claw at the screen, begging them to be together already. “One Day” previously had a film adaptation of the original book in 2001 with Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess. It wasn’t critically acclaimed but was loved by audiences. “One Day,” however, is getting love from both sides. People will enjoy the show more than the original movie because there is significantly more time to see Emma and Dexter’s friendship build into something more. 

The friend-to-lovers trope continues to have a chokehold on this generation, and “One Day” proves that this won't be changing anytime soon. I will pick up a copy of the “One Day” book on my next Barnes and Noble trip to cry over this heartbreaking love story again.