‘One Night Only’: this limp romcom will give no one a happy ending

Imagine an alternate reality where premarital sex is only lawful for one night of the year. Thanks to a US government mandate, the police can arrest anyone who’s caught bang(ed) to rights, and everyone has an Orwellian wrist tattoo that switches from red to green when the 12-hour exemption period begins. It sounds like the pitch for a pretty grim dystopian thriller, but it’s actually the USP of this old-school romcom. How old-school? It’s opening in cinemas, not going straight to streaming.

Read more: The best films of 2026… so far!

Though One Night Only is directed by Will Gluck, who gave the genre a shot in the arm with 2023’s Sydney Sweeney-Glenn Powell hit Anyone But You, it never quite hits its stride. In theory, a romcom can overcome any icky premise. In 1990’s irresistible Pretty Woman, a Hollywood sex worker falls for a jaded one-percenter who pays her to spend time with him, but that film had Julia Roberts’ incandescent charisma and some great set-pieces. One Night Only has an appealing lead duo, Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown) and Callum Turner (Masters Of The Air), but their chemistry is tepid rather than sweltering.

The story begins as the clock ticks down to the annual 12-hour window where premarital sex is actually allowed. Pizza shop owner Owen (Turner) has planned a romantic evening with his girlfriend Malika (Maya Hawke), but she tells him over sushi that she’d rather bed someone else. It doesn’t really make sense – why didn’t Malika break the news before the big night? – but then again, little about this film does bear scrutiny.

Monica Barbaro and King Princess in ‘One Night Only’. CREDIT: Universal

Meanwhile, jingle singer Allie (Barbaro) is single and ready to mingle, though she only wants to go all the way with a guy she really vibes with. Owen and Allie don’t know each other, but it’s pretty fun watching their paths cross as they bar-hop around New York City on a night when everyone wants to get laid. Along the way, Gluck’s film squanders cameos from romcom icon Molly Ringwald and Charli XCX‘s bestie Julia Fox, though singer-actress King Princess supplies some funny moments as Allie’s incorrigible pal Jacinta.

Eventually, Allie and Owen get beyond their multiple meet-cutes and realise they’re made for each other. But even then, One Night Only can’t shake off its weirdly squeamish attitude to sex. Allie’s roommate Arya (Quintessa Swindell) dismisses the exemption period as a night “for the straights”, which suggests the US government has a pretty narrow conception of what sex actually entails. It also implies that the heterosexual population of New York City suffers from a baffling lack of imagination.

Sadly, Travis Braun’s patchy screenplay never bothers to explain these plot holes because it’s too busy trying to manufacture a viral moment by having Allie sing Air Supply’s ‘All Out of Love’ and Yazoo‘s ‘Only You’. In fairness, her rendition of the latter is quite touching.

One Night Only‘s retrogressive ending is so misguided that it’s tempting to quote a better romantic comedy involving a Hollywood sex worker: “Big mistake. Huge.” Despite the odd frisson from Barbaro and Turner, this dodgy romcom is ultimately one big turn-off.

The post ‘One Night Only’: this limp romcom will give no one a happy ending appeared first on NME.