I already know what you’re all thinking, which is, “Wolfman, I thought you reviewed horror movies, what the hell are you doing reviewing One Night Only?” My answer to you, strange person talking out loud to your computer, is, “A movie where you can only have sex once a year? Movies don’t get much more horrifying than that!!!! Am I right, ladies?!?!?!” I’d also like to add that I can review whatever I want, so stop complaining. Further, based on the trailers alone and how it was a seemingly grounded story that just so happened to take place in a dystopia where sex was illegal, I had to figure out the justification for such a premise. The result is a movie that offers a high-concept foundation that still delivers all of the expected tropes of a rom-com, made all the more watchable by charming-enough leads.

Much like The Purge, this movie takes place in a future where sex outside of marriage has been made illegal, except for one 12-hour period each year (really all it took was one J.D. Vance lookalike conservative politician saying the policy reflected the traditional values of our country and it fully convinced me this future isn’t too far off from where we’re headed). Owen (Callum Turner) anticipates sleeping with his girlfriend of many years (Maya Hawke), though she reveals she wants to sleep with someone else; they only have so many opportunities for casual sex, and she wants them both to experiment. Allie (Monica Barbaro), meanwhile, is dreading the evening as she is hoping for more than casual sex, but leaves the door open for an actual connection. Owen and Allie keep finding themselves crossing paths, though neither wants to accept that they should really just sleep with each other.

Director Will Gluck already had a few strikes against him heading into this movie. He made Anyone But You, a movie that everyone tried to claim was “actually good,” though, having watched it, I can confirm it is “not actually good.” He also made Strays, one of the more unpleasant and absolutely heinous attempts at a comedy I’ve seen in the last few years. It’s safe to say he was on thin ice, but he did somehow find a way to make this movie work. While there are plenty of comedies out there that feature much more ambitious and convoluted premises, we don’t often get ones that feel just a bit more heightened than our actual world. If we try to unpack the questions of, “Wait, how does the government know if people are having sex? What is the punishment? Who voted for this?” then you’ll be left scratching your head, though the movie does try to make sense of it all, if only barely. Still, I doubt anyone is seeing this movie for the nitty-gritty of a world where sex outside of marriage is illegal.

While Gluck had strikes against him, I was entirely unaware of writer Travis Braun‘s work, though I can see why One Night Only was on the Black List for a few years: it’s weird as hell, and not everyone could pull it off. The partnership between Braun and Gluck is clearly what made this movie work, as the script and screen are packed full of weird ideas and quick sight gags. Virtually every piece of in-world advertising included references to the Sex Purge (my words, not the movie’s), from Dunkin’ to Duolingo. Yes, these were also obvious product placements, but some of them were somewhat subtle. Similarly, Allie’s job required her to sing parody songs for commercials promoting experimental drugs, which is such a specific and bizarre gig that it would have been entirely distracting in another movie. In a world where sex is largely outlawed, though, we’re willing to buy her career.

Apparently I saw Monica Barbaro in Top Gun: Maverick, though I have no real recollection of her. I did see her in A Complete Unknown, and her on-screen dynamic with Timothée Chalamet helped elevate the experience. Callum Turner, meanwhile, I only kind of remember from being in Green Room, and otherwise I know him because his name comes up as a James Bond hopeful. While I can’t say either of them really elevates the material, they do manage to sell the story, largely because the movie doesn’t rest on the shoulders of their chemistry and more on the absurdity that they keep finding each other. If nothing else, just the fact that neither of them is Sydney Sweeney or Dakota Johnson or Glen Powell or Adam Brody or any number of other well-known rom-com stars is a huge bonus.

Then, there’s the whole theme of the movie, which is how virtually all of the characters view sex as the ultimate goal of making a connection, while Owen and Allie are going through a bit of a different journey. What made When Harry Met Sally… work, and such a classic in the genre, is how a key selling point of the whole movie was that Harry and Sally were never motivated by possibly sleeping with one another. It wasn’t a will-they-won’t-they, like most other rom-coms, and the characters got to have actual conversations about relationships that weren’t entirely based on sex. One Night Only clearly wanted to explore that notion – how can we make two characters downplay the importance of sex while the whole country is obsessed with it? – though Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner are no Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. Had we gotten at least a few more scenes of Allie and Owen talking about things that weren’t sex, maybe it could have been a bit stronger, though I could see that there was at least an attempt to inject some sincerity into the oddball premise.

If you’re inherently a fan of rom-coms or of any of the people involved in this movie, then you’ll likely appreciate getting to see an ambitious spin on what could have been any other premise in which two people keep crossing paths with one another. If you wanted to see a thought-provoking dissection of how America could descend into such a fascist way of life and people’s attempts to fight back against the authoritarianism, you’ll be left disappointed. One Night Only is perfectly harmless and sometimes clever, and Will Gluck has bought himself a modicum of goodwill after that atrocity of Strays.

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