# The One (2021)

> A DNA researcher's matchmaking breakthrough promises perfect love, but romance and deceit spiral out of control.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/99154

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 8
- Episode runtime: 43 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: science fiction, thriller, drama
- Created by: Howard Overman
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Amir El-Masry, Hannah Ware, Olivia Chenery, Stephen Campbell Moore, Lois Chimimba, Dimitri Leonidas, Diarmaid Murtagh, Zoë Tapper
- TMDB rating: 6.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13879466/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: tense, paranoid, sleek, unsettling, seductive

## What critics say

Audiences find The One a mixed, watchable sci-fi thriller whose matchmaking premise is intriguing but whose twists and mystery are uneven.

## Synopsis

The One (2021) is a British science fiction thriller limited series created by Howard Overman for Netflix. Across eight episodes of roughly forty-three minutes each, a DNA researcher helps develop a method to identify a person's perfect romantic partner, and the discovery grows into a bold matchmaking service. Amir El-Masry plays Ben Naser, whose life becomes tangled with the service's promise, while Hannah Ware (Rebecca), Olivia Chenery (Holly) and Stephen Campbell Moore (Damian) pull the story into a web of secrets and personal stakes. The engine of the series is the gap between the romantic promise of the technology and the lies that people tell to protect their hopes, so each episode tightens the pressure on who can be trusted. Its tone is tense, sleek and paranoid, with a glossy contemporary surface hiding dread. Set in a near-present Britain, it blends intimate character drama with the procedural pull of a techno-thriller. Fans of Black Mirror, Behind Her Eyes and Utopia will find resonance in its unsettling take on technology, desire and deception, delivered as a single self-contained arc that rewards close attention from start to finish.

## Shows like The One

- [Liar (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/63999)
- [Apple Tree Yard (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/61084)
- [Wedding Season (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/109000)
- [Iris (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/168350)
- [London Spy (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/56972)
- [Chloe (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/118789)
- [Affinity (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1105120)
- [UnREAL (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/55459)
- [Prime Target (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/162055)
- [Missing You (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/160132)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt