One Night Only is one of those films that makes me evaluate whether or not I am truly part of its target demographic. Age is one thing, but true appreciation of a film like this is something completely different.
It’s August 7th (which is also the release date of the film), and from 7PM to 7AM, the federal mandate banning premarital is lifted for the third year of the mandate’s existence. In New York City (and I am sure across the country), single people are gearing up for the one night of the year that they can get their freak on, including pizza shop owner Owen (Callum Turner), who has a big night planned with his girlfriend (Maya Hawke). When she throws him a curveball, he ventures out into the city to make sense of it all. Allie (Monica Barbaro) is an aspiring singer who is unlucky in love and also winds up on her own when her wing woman finds a hookup almost immediately when they meet up. Allie and Owen’s paths cross all night long, and while they seek their own direction, that direction draws them closer to each other.
Will Gluck (Anyone but You) directs and Travis Braun (whose resume shows this on a “one of these kids is doing his own thing” kind of way) writes this story that really can only be described as “The Purge in a different way”. Turner and Barbaro have great chemistry, and there are some fun cameos that I won’t spoil if you don’t know, but this script seems to not really stick the landing. There are aspects to the premise that simply took me out of the story because of the expected level of suspension of disbelief that come with it, and the concept itself was beaten into me so much that ten minutes in my thought was “OK, I GET IT! Just tell the story!” Even with as good as the leads are and the really well-placed needle drops (including one that simply samples the opening keys riff of a great song from the ‘90s that may get past some), this film just falls short to be a good rewatchable rom-com. I also get that there is always a level of predictability to a film, but there is also something called “the art of subtlety”. The foreshadowing here is less “oh, THAT’S where that comes in” and more telegraphing that runs just short of the cast carrying signs that read “THIS WILL BE A THING IN A BIT!!!!”.
Let me be clear: One Night Only is not a bad film by any stretch; it just isn’t a great film by any stretch either. I am sure that it will find an audience, but I simply am not it. This is not one to rush out and see, but if it’s on a streaming service and your options of what to watch are limited, there are worse options.