ONE NIGHT ONLY

Director
Will Gluck
(ANYONE BUT YOU, EASY A)

Starring
Callum Turner, Monica Barbaro, Maya Hawke and Molly Ringwald

Will Gluck’s One Night Only takes an outrageous premise and turns it into a breezy, sometimes charming romantic comedy that never quite finds the courage to push its idea as far as it could. Set in a near-future America where premarital sex is illegal except for one government-sanctioned 12-hour period each year, the film follows two romantics, Owen (Callum Turner), a local pizza shop owner, and Allie (Monica Barbaro) a jingle-singer, as they navigate New York on the craziest night of the year.

The concept immediately suggests something much darker and more satirical. There are plenty of opportunities to explore government control, sexual repression and the absurdity of turning intimacy into a regulated annual event. The film introduces some amusing details, including biometric monitoring and mandatory safe-sex, but largely treats its dystopian society as a colourful backdrop for a conventional romantic adventure.

Fortunately, Turner and Barbaro provide the movie with its strongest asset: genuine likability. Their characters are both looking for something more meaningful than the casual encounters the night is designed to encourage, and their chemistry gives the increasingly chaotic story an emotional centre. Barbaro, in particular, makes a strong impression as Allie, bringing warmth and comic timing to a role that could easily have become a generic rom-com heroine.

Gluck also gives the film an energetic visual style. The New York setting is colourful and lively with a broad canvas to draw on. There are plenty of amusing side characters and celebrity cameos, although some of the jokes and detours feel more like distractions than essential parts of the story.

The biggest disappointment is that One Night Only is considerably less daring than its premise. What could have been a biting satire of political and social control becomes a fairly safe love story. The film occasionally raises fascinating questions about its world, only to quickly move on before exploring them, meaning the movie is too restrained to work fully as either a provocative satire or a genuinely raunchy comedy.

Still, there is an undeniable charm to the finished product. Turner and Barbaro are appealing enough to make the predictable romantic beats work, and Gluck understands the visual language and pacing of the modern studio rom-com, however probably dragged the story on about 15 minutes longer than it needed. It may not be the bold reinvention of the genre its premise promises, but it is an entertaining, glossy and occasionally funny night at the movies.

One Night Only is a fun, attractive rom-com with a terrific high-concept hook and two charismatic leads. It just feels like a film that plays things far too safely when its premise is begging it to be outrageous.

ONE NIGHT ONLY is in cinemas now.