The recently released One Night Only trailer follows the story of what seems to be a traditional rom-com, but with a surprise twist that it takes place in a fictionalized world with a very specific, repressed rule.
One Night Only stars Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro, with other stars also including Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, Molly Ringwald, LeVar Burton, Este Haim, Ziwe, King Princess, and Ben Marshall. The movie is written and directed by Will Gluck, who is best known for writing and directing films like Easy A, Friends With Benefits, and Anyone But You.
The movie follows Allie and Owen, “two love-starved strangers who crash into each other in an ever-so-slightly fictionalized New York City on the one night of the year when single people are allowed to have sex. Recently dumped Owen and hopeful romantic Allie might be the only two singles in the city looking for more than just a quick encounter. They both feel a spark when they meet, but a series of missteps and side quests complicate their night, keeping them apart. As they each race toward and away from each other across the city, they just might discover that the one thing they want most is closer than they think,” according to the film’s official synopsis.
The trailer for One Night Only puts our starring couple in the middle of a fictionalized New York City where, for whatever reason, the world can only have sex on one single night. This odd inclusion plunges the movie into an almost Purge adjacent category, albeit dealing with romance and sex instead of murder. The crux of the movie, it seems, is whether or not Owen and Allie will fall for one another in the one night only they have to do so.
However, for a movie that features such a unique plot point, it’s not really touched on much in the trailer. Instead, much of One Night Only’s trailer paints it as an almost generic romantic comedy, complete with funny “meet cute” moments, friends being zany and weird in scenes, and turmoil between the leading couple. While you might think this is to keep a lot of the intrigue in the movie, director Will Gluck’s comments on the film seem to dispel that.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly on the movie, Gluck was asked why this fictional world has made sex illegal for all but one night. Gluck either played coy or revealed the fact that the movie won’t be touching on it, simply noting “No one remembers. It’s like all things political, no one remembers why. That’s not the point. The point is that they have an exception for one night a year.”
Of course, this allows for the movie to essentially get away with having the plot point and not needing to explain it, but it also runs the risk of making the movie suffer as a result. If it’s never explained or even brought up beyond simply a plot point, some audiences (myself included) will be left wondering more about this strange world and its laws than the romance on the screen.
