‘One Night Only’ movie review: Bodies meet, hearts fret in spiceless, monotone sex comedy

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

It is rather ironic that Will Gluck’s glossy, casual rom-com, One Night Only comes out just over a month after The Invite , Olivia Wilde’s revelatory, tragic-comic breakdown of modern love . Even though both the films take place over the course of a night, Gluck barely manages to rise beyond the sure-shot click-bait of a premise, as he virtually reimagines parts of his own earlier work, mixed with snippets of the great American rom-com trope. Guy and girl have an awkward chance meeting, they hate each other but fate gets them together each time. They don’t see what’s brewing but we do as eyes meet, conversations mature and a connection is made. The get-together is not without its share of last-minute realisations followed by runs around the city to go to a ‘special place’ and finding the other waiting, with a smile that explains it all. Its a journey we have seen; its a structure we have loved. But this night ain’t it.

The beauty of this love-finds-all-in-New York fairytale, lies primarily in the tenderness of its protagonists. The city is as much part of the romance as the two individuals. But in One Night Only , the city feels like a distant disco-land; its characteristic texture and poetic resolve gives way for a more flashy outcome. The film practically has a Los Angeles heart stuck in a New York soul and the weight of that change of rhythm is felt by the protagonists more than anyone.

Allie (Monica Barbaro) and Owen ( Callum Turner ) are inherent romantics, who are not too pleased to navigate their way through that one night when law allows unmarried folks to have sex. Allie is looking for connection before she can get intimate with a stranger while Owen’s plans of proposing to his girlfriend on the night are easily cut-short when she announces to spend time with another man. Juggling across New York without anyone to spend time with, the two pass through the same streets, looking disjointedly at others getting passionately intimate until they bump into one another. A series of misadventures follow as they race along to steal the last remaining packet of condom from a general store and end up getting robbed and fooled without really finding their it moment of the night.

Writer Travis Braun’s bumpy screenplay approaches the central conflict with the eccentricity of a punchline and later forgets to layer it up with what would have made for a stirring thought-experiment. Every scene operates here like a gag, seldom building space for tension to rise between the pair. The autocratic nature of the sex mandate, with the state poking its nose in people’s bedroom, is surprisingly well-received by everyone without any sign of revolt apart from a one-glimpse character, who defied the law and was punished.