The More You Think About “One Night Only,” the Crazier it Becomes
Romantic comedies are no stranger to an insane premise. As much as I profoundly love Sleepless in Seattle, it is, objectively, crazy. A woman hears a man’s voice on the radio from three thousand miles away and decides to blow up her entire life for him. That is not rational and if this happened in real life, it would likely be the first act of a murder documentary, not a love story. All this to say, there is precedent in this genre for a zany set of circumstances, but Will Gluck’s One Night Only might take the cake.
As a means of population control, the United States government has made premarital sex illegal except for one night every year. Because this is the only time for single folks to get it on, the night is mayhem. People are throwing themselves at each other on the subway, in the park, at bars, you get it. It’s a free-for-all. Essentially, this is The Purge, but for sex, so don’t think too much about it. One Night Only certainly isn’t concerned with anything more than this night being a vehicle for its two main characters to meet. Owen’s (Callum Turner) girlfriend (Maya Hawke) tells him that instead of sleeping with Owen, she wants a new experience. Allie (Monica Barbaro) is single and romantic, ever skeptical of this night. Owen and Allie’s paths cross over the course of these twelve hours of sexual freedom, and an attraction begins to grow.
The problem with One Night Only’s gonzo premise is that screenwriter Travis Braun has essentially created a version of the United States that has a lot more in common with Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale than a rom com should. When you watch two attractive people make googly eyes at each other from across the room, you don’t want to think about the rise of fascism, but that’s how One Night Only has shot itself in the foot. It would be one thing if the movie explained that sex was only legal for one night and called it a day, but One Night Only leans heavily into worldbuilding. We see protest signs in windows saying “REPEAL” in reference to the mandate and there are newscasters debating the importance of this legal decision. Characters openly admit that this is government oversight they wish they didn’t have to deal with, but any dissent is summed up with a shrug. That’s the way things are, nothing can be done about it. One Night Only could have saved its bizarre premise by breaking it at the end of the film. Instead, our warm and fuzzy ending is seeing our two leads submit to the fascist state that rules them. How romantic!
If you’re able to overlook the concept, there are moments of One Night Only that capture some of the magic of the romantic comedies of yesteryear. Director Will Gluck is no stranger to the rom com. He’s responsible for the masterpiece of Easy A and 2023’s Anyone but You with Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney (who both make small cameos in One Night Only). While the chemistry between Barbaro and Turner isn’t fully sparkling, they each have moments on their own that prove their star power. Barbaro especially proves that she’s as comfortable in an Oscar-nominated role as she is in a rom com.
Much of One Night Only feels like it’s fighting against itself. The premise makes any burgeoning romance difficult. Gluck admits that he didn’t want to put any nudity in his R-rated movie about sex. I’m not arguing for gratuitous nudity, but One Night Only does come across as sterilized. Perhaps that’s because the script is by someone whose other other Hollywood credits are children’s shows. One Night Only is a small stumbling block on the road to a rom com renaissance, with brief moments of glory.
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