At least for horror fans, the premise of “One Night Only” should sound familiar. After all, “The Purge” franchise has already worked on the titular legislation in five films and two series series, according to which, in a fictional version of the USA, all crimes committed during this period go unpunished once a year for twelve hours. In this one night full of murder and manslaughter, all the pent-up pressure and hatred should be released, so that peaceful coexistence is possible at least for the remaining 364 days. But speaking of pressure: In the new romantic comedy by “Peter Rabbit” director Will Gluck, it is no longer violence, but rather extramarital intercourse, which is only permitted once a year for twelve hours. Otherwise, force-implanted biosensors ensure that a special unit immediately knocks on the door at the thought of single sex.
All fingers are crossed for the stars that they finally end up in the box with each other on this New York night. After all, Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro are not only outrageously attractive, they also have undeniable chemistry from the first meeting. Or to put it another way: Despite vomiting on sushi during the first flirtation, the spark spreads – even to the audience! What follows, however, is much less political than in the “Purge” model. Because even if a sex ban in the USA now seems frighteningly plausible, the details of the scenario are only roughly outlined – despite the pictograms in police headquarters showing which positions and types of sex are allowed and which are not. Regardless of its high-concept premise, “One Night Only” falls into the common genre of coitus-interruptus comedy, in which increasingly absurd reasons are presented as to why the main characters cannot reach the climax again.
Owen (Callum Turner) and Allie (Monica Barbaro) obviously belong together. But since he throws up sushi on her the first time they meet, it takes the two of them a little longer to finally realize it.
The new law has been in place for three years now, according to which sex is only permitted within marriage. However, in order to prevent a revolt by the dissatisfied masses, there is an exception: once a year – with a condom requirement! – be fucked freely for twelve hours. The pizza baker Owen (Callum Turner) already lives in a shared apartment with his fiancée (Maya Hawke) – and therefore expects to spend this special night with her. But puff cake! In the sushi restaurant, a few minutes before the end of the sex countdown, it is revealed to him that she instead wants to sleep with a neighbor who looks suspiciously like Glen Powell from Will Gluck’s previous comedy smash hit “Where the Lie Falls”.
So Owen has to reorient himself for better or worse – and just a few minutes later he actually happens to meet the advertising jingle singer Allie (Monica Barbaro). Everything points to the fact that fate has chosen the two for each other – and the film would probably have been over again after 20 minutes if, out of sheer frustration, Owen had wolfed down not only his own sushi, but also the leftover sushi of his now-probably no longer fiancée. Instead, what follows is a night full of bizarre, last-second-but-no-sex incidents, in which Owen and Allie repeatedly run into each other by chance or sometimes have a bitter duel over what is apparently the last remaining contraceptive in all of Manhattan…
After Owen and Allie independently start looking for sexual partners, there is an unplanned reunion at the police station.
We would hang out with Callum Turner (“Emma.”) and Monica Barbaro (“Like A Complete Unknown”) every night – and when they go on a corner supermarket heist together just to steal a completely overpriced condom, the resulting chaos is also quite funny. But the real stumbling block of “One Night Only” is different – and for that we have to look back a little: In 2011, two very similar comedies were released in cinemas in quick succession, in which the protagonists are only friends, but still have sex with each other. In the conclusion of the review of “Friendship Plus” with Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher, I wrote at the time: “It’s a shame that the comedy first tries to be ‘modern’ only to end up using the same Hollywood morality again. We’re curious to see whether Will Gluck’s ‘Friends with Benefits’ with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis will show more courage.”
The answer seven months later was: not really. Still, we had high hopes for “One Night Only.” After all, 13 years after the rather uptight “Friends with Benefits”, Will Gluck has just achieved the biggest success of his career with the hot-as-fuck Shakespeare adaptation “Where the Lie Falls” – in Germany alone it sold an incredible 1.6 million cinema tickets. With such a hit behind him, one would think that he would now have the courage to really oppose an anti-sex law. But once again it’s a pity: “One Night Only” is not only conspicuously tame throughout the entire film, at the end you even wonder whether the makers don’t, at least subconsciously, think the decree is quite good. From a European perspective, it all seems uptight and American – and in France it would probably be better to bring an alternative cut straight into the cinemas.
Conclusion: At least the chemistry between Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro is absolutely great. The attempts to somehow end up in bed with someone, which are doomed from the start, are at least somewhat amusing. But for a sex (forbidden) comedy, “One Night Only” also comes across as surprisingly stuffy.