One Night Only would have worked perfectly well as a romantic comedy, had it not been built around one of those high-concept ideas that has absolutely no connection to reality.
Let’s start with the good stuff. The film has two extremely likeable leads in Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro, and the pair have ridiculous chemistry. The problem is that the premise is so wildly far-fetched that it becomes almost impossible to settle into the story enough to appreciate the relationship developing between them.
The film takes place in a fictional version of America where premarital sex has been outlawed by the government, with one very bizarre exception: for a single night each year, the law is suspended for twelve hours. That’s the entire setup. Imagine The Purge, except instead of everyone being given permission to commit murder, they are given permission to have sex, a lot of it.
It is an undeniably strange idea, and while there is some fun to be had with it, the concept constantly gets in the way of the film it actually wants to be. Beneath all the absurdity is a fairly straightforward romantic comedy about two people who are unlucky in love and happen to keep crossing paths on the one night when everyone else is trying to find someone to sleep with.
Owen, played by Turner, is a pizza shop owner who initially plans to use the night to propose to his girlfriend, only to discover that she has other plans. Allie, played by Barbaro, is a singer who performs cover versions of songs for commercials and heads out hoping to find some kind of meaningful connection. Their respective nights eventually bring them together, and this is where the movie works best.
Turner and Barbaro are completely winning, and there is a genuinely good romantic comedy buried somewhere underneath this bizarre premise. There is a believable warmth between them that gives the movie its best moments.
Unfortunately, the film never quite escapes the weight of its own idea. Instead of allowing the romance to breathe, the elaborate world-building and increasingly ridiculous circumstances continually remind you that none of this resembles anything remotely believable. High-concept comedies can absolutely work, but the concept has to serve the characters. Here, it often feels as though the characters are being forced to serve the concept.
There is plenty of talent in the supporting cast as well, with the likes of King Princess, Molly Ringwald, Ziwe and Ben Marshall filling out the edges of the story. But the movie ultimately belongs to Turner and Barbaro, which makes it all the more frustrating that the material doesn’t give them a better vehicle.
One Night Only is therefore an almost-good romantic comedy. There is genuine charm here, particularly in the central pairing, and Turner and Barbaro make a convincing case that there is a much better film waiting to be made with them as its stars. Sadly, this isn’t that film. The biggest problem isn’t the performances. It isn’t even the comedy. It’s the premise. One Night Only might have been considerably better if it had been built around an idea that didn’t require the audience to completely abandon reality before the romance could begin.
