One Night Only is a romcom that takes place in an alternate reality where the government has outlawed premarital sex, save for one night each year. As the world around them devolves into a tempest of casual hookups, Allie and Owen search for a more meaningful relationship. While not without some charm, this flick drowns in a deluge of crass sexual content and harsh, vulgar language.
Three years ago, the government banned premarital sex, save for one night a year.
Tonight is that night.
Owen is a pizzeria owner who has been in a committed relationship for the past few years. In fact, he plans to propose to his long-term girlfriend over a romantic dinner. So, it comes as a shock when, over said dinner, his girlfriend says that she plans to sleep with someone else that night, leaving Owen devastated and alone.
Allie is a stage-frightened singer in search of a connection. She’s tired of being ghosted after her one-night-a-year hookups. She and a friend each agree to seek out a meaningful relationship this time around. But at the first sign of an attractive guy, her friend ditches her, leaving Allie neglected and alone.
Owen and Allie wander the streets of New York City, stranded in a metropolis caught up in the collective throes of lustful passion. It seems everyone has someone, except for them.
You can see where this is going …
There are a lot of mixed messages found in One Night Only, but a few are at least somewhat positive—if incomplete. (A ringing endorsement, I know.) However, it should be noted that One Night Only stops well short of the biblical instruction to reserve sexual intimacy for marriage.
We can appreciate Allie’s instinct that there is more to a loving connection than physical intimacy. She tells Owen that sex has left her “feeling empty” since it has lacked deeper relationship and commitment. The film even suggests that it might be wise to delay physical intimacy until people better know their significant others better. One couple decides to do just that, showing their commitment to each other and the other aspects of their relationship beyond sex.
Owen helps Allie overcome her stage fright and sing in front of a crowd.
One of Allie’s friends (who is gay) says that non-heterosexual people have been “dancing around” laws like the premarital sex ban “since before the Bible.”
A man refers to the “sanctity of marriage,” and the film presents him as smarmy and buffoonish.
As mentioned, One Night Only presents an alternate United States that has outlawed all premarital sex except for one night each year—and this film imagines what that might look like. So, yeah, you might have guessed this content section was going to be robust.
This film is stuffed with sexual situations and dialogue. Most of the decisions we see characters make drive toward the end goal of sexual gratification. Even Allie, who at one point bemoans her experiences with casual sex, is still quite willing to keep physical intimacy as part of the equation if she meets the “right guy.” (Oddly enough, she meets multiple “right guys”—or so they seem—over the course of a single night who she’s ready to sleep with.)
The instant the premarital sex ban is lifted, couples all over the city (heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual) begin expressing their lustful desires. We see scores of people, in varying states of undress, kiss and grope one another. Some engage in sex—even in public—and though many of the critical elements are obscured, suggestive movements and sounds still make it onscreen.
Nudity makes several unwelcome appearances as well. The camera lingers on the naked backsides of two men. Female rears are seen through revealing underwear. There are brief flashes of side breast nudity. Even when nudity is not explicitly present, we still see a lot of skin. Many people are wearing naught but their undergarments. A topless woman runs from police in her underwear. (She covers her breasts with an arm.) Those women who are dressed often wear revealing clothing, including Allie, who wears a dress with a short hemline and plunging neckline throughout much of the film. A news report shows footage of people having sex, including groups of people, with the critical bits blurred.
Two people discuss their favorite part of sex. We see a woman’s imagined near-sexual encounter. A guy says he would have sex with another man.
Several people make crude, sexually charged comments—including quite a few comments from a preteen. People comment on the attractiveness of others. An extended sequence in the film revolves around the search for a condom. People distribute sexual lubricant to passers-by.
Both Owen and Allie are invited to participate in group sex. (They decline.) Someone tries to schedule multiple sexual partners through a calendar app. A woman influences a man to participate in sexual bondage. A singer ad-libs a vulgar song.
Signs portray approved and illegal behavior, with some showing stick figure models engaged in a variety of sexual positions. In-universe songs and commercials are often sexualized for comedic purposes. We glimpse vulgar graffiti, including a cartoony image of male genitalia. Characters from the children’s show Dora the Explorer are discussed in a sexual context.
In this alternate reality, only unmarried individuals are restricted from having sex—not those who are married. But One Night Only largely ignores married couples, and the few times they are referenced aren’t flattering. An older married man pines for single life so he can take advantage of the one night of unfettered sexual revelry. Owen mentions that his friends got married specifically so they could have sex whenever they wanted, which doesn’t paint the best picture of holy matrimony.
Someone falls off a piano and lands painfully, bloodying his nose. A man snaps himself in the face with a rubber glove while trying to craft a makeshift condom. A character gets tied to a tree and robbed. A distraught woman fears she will be “roofied.”
The f-word is used more than 25 times. We hear the s-word at least five times. God’s name is misused 14 times, occasionally paired with “d–n.” Jesus’ name is abused four times.
Additional profanity includes “h—,” “a–hole,” “b–ch,” “p-ss,” “b–tard” and “d–k.” The rude words “screwing” and “sucks” are also used.
People drink wine, beer, champagne and liquor. Alcohol is seen lining the shelves of various bars.
The government tracks whether people are following the ban on premarital sex, using biosensors that monitor dopamine levels.
A man vomits. A woman says she must “pee.” Someone steals a condom from a convenience store in a way that causes a fair bit of property damage. People lie.
Allie’s job (at least, in part) is recording jingles for pharmaceutical commercials. She belts out a song about a psoriasis medication as well as a vaginal hygiene product.
Romantic comedy is a genre already replete with oversexualized plots, characters and dialogue. One Night Only takes that trend a step further by making its sexual focus the film’s foundational premise.
What would happen if a government banned premarital sex on all but one day of the year? Well, according to this flick, the result would be a chaotic affair not dissimilar to The Purge—but with less murder and a lot more lust. As ludicrous as that idea is, it almost lands One Night Only near a salient message.
In the world of this film, everyone chases their base, carnal desires. But Allie is searching for something different. Casual hookups have left her feeling cold. Unfulfilled. She wants more than sex: She wants a committed, loving relationship.
Great! Heading in the right direction …
But while “waiting” is portrayed as a good thing (at least for some couples), this flick doesn’t have a real sense for what a couple might be waiting for, other than to “get to know each other better” or an ill-defined commitment of some sort. Problem is, the movie already undercuts this message early in its runtime: Owen’s girlfriend of several years (with whom he’s had sex a few times) decides she wants to sleep with someone else. Didn’t they know each other? Weren’t they committed?
Oof.
While the film grasps at something true—namely, that commitment and fidelity are crucial components in a healthy relationship—One Night Only seems unable (or unwilling) to recognize the sacrament of marriage, between one man and one woman, as the ultimate, God-ordained fulfillment of those virtues and the singular context in which sex should take place.
One Night Only has some funny moments, and Monica Barbaro is charming as Allie. But the film’s sex-driven premise and content issues—which include a wash of sexual content, sensual moments, crude humor and vulgar dialogue—will put it squarely out of bounds for discerning viewers.
Bret loves a good story—be it a movie, show, or video game—and enjoys geeking out about things like plot and story structure. He has a blast reading and writing fiction and has penned several short stories and screenplays. He and his wife love to kayak the many beautiful Colorado lakes with their dog.
