I like movies, I watch a lot of them. So I am beginning a new section to share what I think about the movies I watch..
“One Night Only” stars Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro it release August 7, 2026. I saw an early screening.
“One Night Only” is a movie with a simple premise, “The Purge” but with sex instead of violence. I have yet to see a Purge movie so I can’t judge the accuracy of this statement. What I can say is “One Night Stand” holds a mirror up to modern dating and shows us an uncomfortable yet familiar world.
Three years ago the United States banned all forms of extramarital sex, a law enforced through barely believable 5G enabled tattoo technology. Forget that this is absurd on every level and roll with it. The movie isn’t interested in the society outside of the one night (the term used to describe yearly the twelve hour long bacchanal where single people can legally have sex) we are only shown the world when the population is desperate to find strangers to hookup with and no one wants to be left out of the one night of supposed freedom. This is where our protagonists Owen and Allie find themselves. Owen reeling from his girlfriend deciding to leave him for the bed of another man and “explore” herself. Telling him at the dinner where he intended to propose that he needs to get out of his box too. Allie hoping to not repeat the mistakes of years past, falling for beautiful men on the one night and finding herself ghosted soon after. Allie meets up with her best friend and the two pledge to be there for each other and make good decisions. This pledge is immediately broken and Allie finds herself fending for herself as the friend runs off with a man she met waiting in line for the bathroom. While it is played for comedy in the moment this decision will prove wise as it works out for the friend at the end of the movie. And here the movie starts building its premise. The one night isn’t some aberration or absurd premise to make a funny movie. The one night is our society. Stuck in a perpetual tailspin of seeking immediate pleasure, exploring other options, looking for something better, and ultimately finding nothing of value. Those who succeed in escaping the hedonistic death spiral have no special skill beyond mere luck. The entire system is obviously crazy to those watching from the outside.
Despite almost every scene featuring at least one “Repeal” flag we don’t get any sense that there is real resistance to the mandate. Owen and Allie have real chemistry and obviously belong together. They remain apart, running on parallel tracks, due to the pressure of the one night and the desire to find something “perfect.” Aside from one political caricature on TV we hear no opinions in favor of the mandate. Why does it persist? Much like our own world the state of affairs is obviously untenable but no one has the power to resist the forces impacting their lives.
As the night goes on Allie meets some a good looking playboy liar and gross celebrity crush. Owen meets a scammer and a freaky cougar who he embarrasses away by walking in on his mother’s bubble wrapped fetish. All of this adds to the feeling of desperation and sadness surrounding the one night. Who could possibly be enjoying any of this?
In the final hours of the one night Owen and Allie resigned to their respective disasters meet in Owen’s pizzeria and discuss what they like best about sex. Allie confesses to enjoying the build up; Owen to the after, the two people together sharing a secret. Neither of these situations require sex yet society has come to focus solely on the act. It’s only when Owen and Allie stop their pursuit of sex that they manage to see the good in each other. A scene that finally makes it clear that Owen and Allie belong together. Allie then fumbles the moment encouraging Owen to go back to his girlfriend who calls and tearfully apologizes admitting she couldn’t go through with her plans. A decision that Allie makes believing it is the right one for Owen, abandoning the hedonism of the one night and showing genuine care for another person. It’s a comedy so of course Owen realizes this but too late to find Allie again until he reflects on the meaningful parts she shared of herself which leads him to the only possible place Allie can be where they decide to remain together and wait for the next one night before having sex.
“One Night Only” is a pretty silly movie when you stop to think about it. Many of the jokes overstay their welcome or simply never land. Owen and Allie make decisions so dumb you want to slap them both. There’s an extended scene involving finding a condom that verges on slapstick. And yet this movie has a real heart. It’s a movie that baits the audience in with a debauched, sexually obsessed story and then turns a mirror to the audience and says, This is you, and dares you to share its belief in romance and true love above hedonistic pursuits.
