One Night Only Review: Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro Supply Nothing Sexy in This Sex Comedy
Images courtesy of Universal Studios.
I remember perusing through the 2024 edition of the Blacklist – an annual voted list of the most liked unproduced screenplays – and at the top of the chart sat One Night Only written by Travis Braun. After reading its premise, all I could think was, why? Why would I want to see a romcom version of The Purge? It’s unfortunate then that Will Gluck’s film does not supply a good enough answer to that question.
In the world of One Night Only premarital sex has been outlawed, except of course for one special night a year, in which for twelve hours, all sex is legal. Owen (Callum Turner) is a handsome pizza shop owner who has all of his special night planned out. He leaves his shop to his elderly married employees who have no need to get caught up in the absurdity of single people. He’ll meet with his girlfriend Malika (Maya Hawke) for an expensive dinner, during which he’ll propose to her, then they’ll go back to their apartment and they’ll—you know. But after being bluntly told by her that she plans to sleep with someone else on this special night, Owen finds himself lost. This is where he meets Allie (Monica Barbaro), a singer, hired by pharmaceutical companies to sing parody songs for morally questionable medications. Her plan for the night? Make a real connection with someone and have sex with them. When Allie and Owen meet, an untimely vomit sends the former looking for anyone else, and the two end up accidentally chasing each other through New York City for the rest of the night.
One of the biggest questions that hangs over One Night Only is towards the logistics behind the process of outlawing premarital sex.. The film describes that three years ago the United States passed a bill, and that everyone is equipped with a sensor in their wrist that allows for the government to track their sexual status and activity. It makes a few references to what was clearly a deep political change in the climate of the United States and its citizens, and what would surely have been a huge battle with the United States constitution’s fourteenth amendment. The use of a Tucker Carlson-like conservative media analyst in the film's beginning, along with multiple background posters and graffiti that say ‘f*** the mandate’ makes it seem as though the film's eerie political setup will have a larger role in the plot, but after only a short while, it separates itself from the politics pretty quickly. I can’t understand why this premise was chosen when it’s hardly explored. The lighthearted, silly comedy that the film instills doesn’t make its world feel believable at all; if it was framed as either a super absurd, or super serious romance, it would be far more plausible. But in this completed version, I’m left wondering how everyone is so fine with a government mandated sensor in their wrist. Is it supposed to be a political satire? It sure doesn’t feel like it.
The relationship between Owen and Allie is an absolute bore. For a large chunk of the film they aren’t even together, and when they are, it just feels wrong. I don’t believe Owen when he speaks his feelings to Allie, because Turner plays it so casually. There’s no chemistry between the two. One Night Only feels like it’s going to be a long sexually tense comedy, with potential for a grand finish, but it just doesn’t take the risks to get there. Turner and Barbaro aren’t strictly to blame, the script is pretty poor — I too wouldn’t put too much blame on credited writer Travis Braun though, as his screenplay was massively overhauled by Gluck — full of cheesy dialogue that will turn off even the most desperate of lovers. It also lacks sex appeal in its looks. It’s an ugly film, looking as though it’s a television advert, or perhaps a somewhat high quality for the platform Youtube series. No effort at all looks as though it went into the film's visuals, especially in its early act taking place during the day, with harsh lighting that made the indoor scenes look so fake and unalive.
Everyone knows that the romcom is in a tough space right now. They’re being made, sure, but you better fork out ten dollars a month for a Netflix or Amazon Prime Video subscription to watch them. That’s why One Night Only is so frustrating to me. Despite a truly unique premise, one that could truly tell an interesting romcom tale on the big screen, One Night Only clearly instead wants to mimic the $200 million dollar box office of Gluck’s previous film Anyone But You, with an enemies to lovers plot that’s more PG than a film about having sex on the only night you can once a year should be. I’d recommend anyone just watch Anyone But You again, it’s a far steamier affair anyway.
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One Night Only opens in cinemas on Thursday the 13th of August. For tickets and more info, click here.