One Night Only ★½

Director Will Gluck’s One Night Only carries with it an unusual premise: three years ago, pre-marital sex was outlawed. For one night a year, single people are allowed to have sex (with protection) before needing to return to celibacy for the other 364 days of the year. In what is described as “the least romantic night of the year,” characters are torn on what to do. On one hand, they want real relationships and on a night where all people want to do is have sex and only have a limited time to do so, it can be hard to find the right connection and meaning. On the other hand, they too just want to have sex. Allie (Monica Barbaro) is single and determined to find something “real” out there. Owen (Callum Turner) is in a relationship, but is blindsided when his girlfriend (Maya Hawke) declares at the last minute that she wants to have sex with somebody else that night, despite the pair making plans all year to spend this night together. Sent onto the streets of New York City searching for connection and with only a limited time to find it, Allie and Owen bump into one another.

The basics of One Night Only’s The Purge–esque hook are relatively simple. Three years ago, this law outlawing pre-martial sex was passed. There are movements for and against it. There are people with “repeal” flags and street graffiti that says “fuck the mandate.” To enforce this law, everybody over the age of 18 is imprinted with a bio-sensor on their wrist that tracks hormone changes. If a person is single, their sensor is red and if a person is married, their sensor is green. For this one night, everybody’s sensor is green. On the other 364 days, if a sensor is red and a change in hormone levels occurs in close proximity to another person, the police are dispatched. The penalty for violators is somewhat unclear, though they are at least arrested and placed on probation, outlawed from future participation in the one night where pre-martial sex is allowed.

How One Night Only approaches its premise is a bit bizarre. Obviously, this one night where pre-martial sex is allowed creates plenty of horny but mostly law-abiding individuals. One Night Only is never prepared to tackle any of the socio-political implications of this law as it is simply not that kind of film. It is a straight-laced romantic comedy using this as a hook, and that is fine. However, it simply gives too much air to its premise that it is not prepared to reckon with. For much of its first-third, it spends time explaining and laying out its rules, playing news stories and having characters discuss the urgency this night creates. It raises too many questions and then plays both sides, arguing in favor of abstinence as the only way to form real connections and even turning a story about how Allie and Owen chose their sensor design (Allie has a lighthouse and Owen has a bat) into a cutesy chance for them to connect. It all feels quite dystopian, dampening the mood of One Night Only and leaving one pre-occupied with this overarching idea of government overreach and the creep of fascism that One Night Only leaves dangling in the background as sight gags and inside jokes.

One Night Only is further taxing in its comedy. It all has a soulless corporate feeling, in large part due to many jokes simply relegated to being product placement. Duolingo ads litter the background, jokes make sure to mention K-Y Jelly by name, a huge part of the night is trying to find a condom that is expressly referred to as a “Durex”, and characters finally come together to share a romantic moment together with a Dunkin’ cup of coffee with the logo facing out. It is stiff and strained, trying to poke fun at ads, companies leaning into the appeal of this one night, and infomercials, but with not enough of the thematic intuition to make it come together as anything but empty product placement (though One Night Only‘s fake infomercial songs are quite funny). One Night Only finds far more success in its physical comedy with a scantily clad Barbaro running around trying to elude capture from the cops, Turner trying to make a disposable glove work as a condom, an encounter between Allie and singer Ezra Strong (Charlie Gillespie) turning into chaos, or Owen and Allie on a desperate rescue mission to get a condom out of a storm drain standing as the film’s funniest moments, all highlights of its sharp slapstick comedy. When it tries to make jokes, One Night Only plays like a bad raunchy 2000s sex comedy with the instincts of teenage boys laughing about sex terms. It feels immature and desperate, perhaps playing to some empty shock value when it has an actual 12-year-old just outright say what sex acts he wants Allie to do to him, but overall lacking any spark or genuine wit. One Night Only comes across as convinced that simply mentioning sex is the height of comedy.

One Night Only’s greatest asset is its romance. As these characters embark on an After Hours-esque odyssey through the chaotic streets and nightclubs of New York on the one night where pre-marital sex is allowed, One Night Only can be chaotic and raucous. But, through the noise, there is a connection between Allie and Owen that One Night Only builds out well. Barbaro and Turner’s chemistry is mostly strong, despite Turner’s bland and flat emotional performance compared to the far more vivacious Barbaro. Gluck has earned a name for himself in directing romantic comedies, most notably Easy A and Anyone but You, with that familiarity with the tropes and emotional beats of the genre playing well for One Night Only, creating a cutesy and flirtatious bit of fun as these two characters start to realize their feelings for one another. Building to An Affair to Remember-esque pay-off, it is easy to be won over by the charm and feeling at its center. One Night Only is at its best when it slows down, hones in on Allie and Owen alone, and allows its two actors to sell the feeling building between them, set apart from the chaos and noise of the night.

Despite the appeals of its leads, One Night Only is a mostly flat and turgid affair. Its romance nearly saves it, finding the spark and energy that is lacking elsewhere. With a premise that refuses to indulge in its larger implications and is altogether too weighty for a light-footed romantic comedy, jokes that are mostly a miss, and endless product placement, the spirit is sucked out of One Night Only’s genuinely touching romantic moments and its handful of light and funny comedic bits. One Night Only feels like a brand hopping on a social media trend, understanding what the trend looks like but none of what makes it work, turning it into an empty and vacuous advertisement that immediately renders the trend uncool. Monica Barbaro tries, but One Night Only finds its groove far too late to save it from being a disappointment.