ONE NIGHT ONLY (2026)

Genre: Romance/Drama
Director: Will Gluck
Cast: Monica Barbaro, Callum Turner, Molly Ringwald, LeVar Burton, Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, Charlie Gillespie, Michelle Hurd, King Princess, Quintessa Swindell, Andrew Burnap, Mike Birbiglia 
Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins
Rating: M18 (Mature Content & Some Nudity)
Released By: UIP
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 13 August 2026

Synopsis: What if one messy night turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to you? This summer, WILL GLUCK, the filmmaker of Anyone but You and Easy A, celebrates modern romance on the big screen with a fresh, witty, swoony original film about searching for love on the least romantic night of the year. Academy Award® nominee MONICA BARBARO (A Complete Unknown, Top Gun: Maverick) and BAFTA nominee CALLUM TURNER (Masters of the Air, Fantastic Beasts franchise) star as 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. 

Movie Review:

Romantic comedies are one of the oldest tricks in Hollywood’s playbook, but there is a good reason they refuse to go away. We usually know where they are heading from the moment the two leads appear. That has never really been the point. What matters is whether the jokes work, whether the actors click, and whether we enjoy watching them get there. When all that falls into place, even the most familiar love story can feel fresh again.

'One Night Only' certainly does not suffer from a familiar setup. In the near future, premarital sex has been outlawed across the United States, except for one 12-hour period each year. Biometric sensors track whether anyone breaks the rules, the police are out in force, and New York becomes one huge, frantic singles party as the clock counts down. It is an intriguing idea, although also a much darker and stranger one than the sunny rom-com built around it sometimes seems to realise.

At the centre of the chaos are Allie (Monica Barbaro), who sings jingles for infomercials, and Owen (Callum Turner), who owns a neighbourhood pizza shop. Allie is out looking for someone to spend the night with after her friend abandons their plans. Owen had expected to stay home with his girlfriend Malika (Maya Hawke), only for her to announce that she wants to hook up with their neighbour - and that he should find someone else too. Both therefore head into the night looking for a hook-up, although it is obvious that neither will be satisfied by something quite so simple.

Adapted from Travis Braun’s 2024 Black List script, the film has some fun delaying the inevitable. Allie and Owen run into each other early, make a terrible first impression and then keep crossing paths as their separate plans go wrong. Most rom-coms get the meet-cute over with at the start; One Night Only spends almost its entire running time keeping its couple apart before finally giving them - and us - the meeting they deserve near the end.

Getting there involves expensive condoms, bad dates, police raids, injuries, awkward parents and more celebrity cameos than the film really needs. Some of these episodes are genuinely funny and capture the feeling of a night going wildly off course. Others feel like the screenplay is working far too hard to prevent Allie and Owen from doing what everyone in the audience already knows they should. The film moves quickly, but the long chain of near-misses can become tiring, especially when a joke or cameo does not land.

The film’s biggest problem is also the thing that makes it stand out. Its sex ban is creepy enough to belong in a dystopian thriller, but Gluck mostly wants to use it as the backdrop for a light comedy. The film does acknowledge the ugliness of the law through protests, arrests and plenty of visual jokes, yet it never really decides how seriously we are meant to take any of it. Think about the premise for more than a few seconds and all sorts of uncomfortable questions arise, most of which the movie would rather avoid.

That does not mean every summer comedy needs to provide a serious political argument. Sometimes an absurd idea can simply be an absurd idea. But 'One Night Only' explains just enough of its world to make it difficult to ignore how disturbing it is. The result is an uneven film that will not be as easy for everyone to enjoy as Gluck’s earlier surprise hit 'Anyone But You', which placed far fewer obstacles between its audience and a good time. Still, Gluck keeps the night bright, colourful and busy, using New York and a lively soundtrack to carry the film through its weaker stretches.

What carries it much further, though, is the charm of its two stars. Barbaro gives Allie a lively, slightly frazzled energy without turning her into a bundle of rom-com quirks. She is funny when Allie is pretending to be confident and just as convincing when that confidence slips. Turner plays Owen in a quieter register. He is hurt, confused and occasionally ridiculous, but his basic decency prevents the character from becoming bitter or self-pitying. Both actors find a tone that suits their characters, and the contrast between them gives the film the rhythm its script sometimes lacks.

More importantly, Barbaro and Turner have real chemistry. It is not simply a matter of putting two attractive actors together and expecting sparks. Their connection grows through the way they tease, annoy, help and gradually pay attention to each other. Tellingly, one of the film’s most romantic scenes is also one of its simplest: Owen makes pizza, Allie talks to him, and for once the movie stops rushing. In a story obsessed with sex, two people sharing food and conversation ends up feeling far more intimate than any of the night’s attempted hook-ups.

'One Night Only' is too busy, too strange and occasionally too coy to make the most of its clever premise. Yet beneath all the detours, it understands something important about why romantic comedies continue to endure. Physical attraction may bring two people together, but it is getting to know each other - the conversation, the laughter and the small acts of care - that makes us want them to stay together. Whatever else the film gets wrong, Barbaro and Turner make that part easy to believe. 

Movie Rating:

('One Night Only' is a strange and uneven rom-com, but Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner’s irresistible charm and chemistry make it worth the date)

Review by Gabriel Chong