One Night Only

2026

Here be spoilers.

There is a wonderful by-the-book romcom in One Night Only, but unfortunately, there’s another movie in there, too. The film’s fierce dedication to its silly premise seems doggedly stubborn. That premise is that premarital sex has been outlawed in America, except for one night a year. Watching the trailers, I wondered what this high-concept frame really had to do with the earnest romcom being advertised. Answer: almost nothing. This film takes all the classic romcom tropes (serendipitous meetings, being forced onstage to sing in front of strangers, wacky situations being misinterpreted into a never-believable antipathy, awkward breakup dinners, last-minute runs across New York to meet at that one special spot…) and then decides…what? That they’re too conventional? (They are, but the fantastic chemistry between a glowing Monica Barbaro and dorky hunk Callum Turner makes them fresh and fun and actually heartwarming.) And so, it’s as if that excellent romcom script was then merged with a raunchy sex farce and pasted together with weak political commentary.

This is my first experience of Oscar-nominee Barbaro, and she is winsome and emotional and sexy and talented all at once. She even makes a very slutty dress (often a source of jokes) look stunning. She sings! Not only that, her character sings pharma jingles. And I cannot get the imaginary hook “I wanna use Lenetave!” out of my head. (It’s to the tune of Sara Bareilles’s “Brave”, except about plaque psoriasis.) Turner is often referred to as “objectively attractive,” and every woman he walks past does a double-take, but all of the jokes Barbaro makes at his expense are true. His ears do look like car doors. His chin could plow a field. His hairline does make no sense. So, no, his attractiveness is not objective. But he does a great job with the role and (as mentioned) gels with Barbaro perfectly, making them a joy to watch together.

But then there’s the “one night only” thing. What does it add to their romcom? Just numerous detours with half-naked people and awkward attempts at having random sex. The tones don’t meet. The only intersection of this concept and the love story is that they finally admit their love with ten minutes of legal sex time but decide that it will mean more if they wait a year to consummate their relationship on the next “one night” (which seems to be the only name for the quasi-holiday).

And, yes, that’s a great ending…but the film spends so much time watching them desperately try to sleep with someone-anyone. Again, the tones clash. Especially when the sex farce plot makes a point of being a statement on conservative Christian politicians controlling the lives of the populace against their will. No specific politician is blamed, but the credits include a bright orange toupee with no context. Go ahead and criticize the Trump administration. There are so many places to start. Yet this biochip-enforced sex ban is not the antifascist metaphor they want it to be. Despite all of the political language and imagery, it never comes off as anything but a stupid, unnecessary plot device that allows for a backdrop of public nudity and indecency. (But, hey, the people who likely love the concept would probably roll their eyes at my use of the word “indecency,” so...)

One Night Only includes a lot of cameos, some that scrolled by so quickly on a hookup app that I couldn’t be sure they were the celebrities I thought they were. But the film is full of familiar faces and the only movie made so far for the Molly Ringwold-LeVar Burton shippers out there. As any romcom must, it has a great soundtrack that mixes a lot of different styles but manages to keep a more cohesive tone than the plot.

But how can it be named One Night Only and not include the song “One Night Only” from Dreamgirls? Instead, my mind just keeps cycling a pop song about an imaginary drug for psoriasis.