One Night Only, the new romantic comedy from director Will Gluck, opens in US theatres on August 7. Set in a near-future America where premarital sex has been outlawed and is permitted only for unmarried adults between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. on one designated night each year, the film follows two strangers navigating that single chaotic evening across New York City. Gluck’s last film, Anyone But You, earned more than $220 million worldwide and demonstrated that adult-oriented romantic comedies could still succeed at the multiplex. Whether One Night Only can repeat that success is another question entirely, and critics are sharply divided over whether its provocative premise is as clever as it believes it is.
Owen, played by Callum Turner, is a New York pizzeria owner who has carefully planned a romantic evening with his long-term girlfriend, Malika, played by Maya Hawke, complete with a hidden engagement ring. Before the night even begins, however, Malika reveals that she intends to sleep with someone else and encourages Owen to do the same. Heartbroken, he unexpectedly meets Allie, played by Monica Barbaro, an aspiring singer whose crippling stage fright has confined her to recording advertising jingles based on well-known pop songs to promote medications and hygiene products. The two immediately connect, but misunderstandings, detours and increasingly chaotic encounters repeatedly pull them apart as the clock counts down on the year’s only legal night of intimacy.
The critical response has settled into two distinct camps. On one side are reviewers who believe the chemistry between the two leads is strong enough to carry the film despite its conceptual flaws. On the other are critics who argue the dystopian premise is simultaneously too important to ignore and too underdeveloped to withstand serious scrutiny, leaving the film stranded between romantic comedy and speculative satire without fully committing to either.
The Hollywood Reporter calls it Will Gluck’s best film since Easy A, a considerable compliment, praising the pairing of Callum Turner’s aw-shucks awkwardness with Monica Barbaro’s grounded, lightly spiky charisma. The review also credits Barbaro for finally landing a role worthy of the promise she displayed in A Complete Unknown, describing her performance as incandescent.
The Movie Buff also offers a broadly positive assessment, arguing that while the film takes time to find its footing, the second half evolves into one of the year’s most enjoyable feel-good experiences, culminating in a romantic payoff that genuinely feels earned. Several other critics similarly describe the film as sensational, irresistible and wildly charming, arguing that beneath its provocative premise lies an unexpectedly sincere story about two lonely people searching for authentic connection in a society that has made intimacy feel transactional.
Screen Daily occupies a more cautious middle ground. While acknowledging the chemistry between the leads, the review ultimately describes One Night Only as a limp romantic comedy that never fully realises the potential of its witty, naughty premise. It points to what it calls a “stultifying timidity,” arguing that despite suggestive dialogue and flashes of nudity, the film repeatedly pulls its punches whenever its central concept threatens to become genuinely provocative.
Variety is considerably harsher. Owen Gleiberman argues that the premise is simply too complicated and too consequential to function as standard romcom machinery, arguing that the film builds itself around a gimmick requiring questions it has absolutely no intention of answering. Although he praises Callum Turner’s quiet, off-kilter charm and Monica Barbaro’s grounded screen presence, he concludes that the setup is ultimately too contrived to allow either performer to fully realise their potential.
The broader supporting cast receives more mixed notices. Maya Hawke is specifically singled out by The Hollywood Reporter as being wasted in a frustratingly underwritten role, a notable criticism given her profile. The ensemble also includes Julia Fox, King Princess, Molly Ringwald, LeVar Burton, Ziwe, Ben Marshall and Quintessa Swindell. Several reviewers observe that these supporting characters exist primarily as comic obstacles or narrative devices rather than fully developed people—a familiar weakness in high-concept romantic comedies where so much attention is devoted to sustaining the central premise.
One aspect that critics almost unanimously celebrate is the film’s funniest recurring joke: Allie’s day job. Screen Daily calls it the film’s strongest running gag. She earns a living by singing medically accurate advertising jingles about psoriasis, vaginal hygiene and other health conditions to the melodies of instantly recognisable pop songs. It is precisely the kind of absurdly specific comedic idea that succeeds because the film commits to it completely, and Monica Barbaro’s delivery reportedly sells every moment.
Multiple reviews identify a significant tonal shift around the film’s midpoint. The Movie Buff describes the first half as a broad, high-concept sex comedy before gradually transforming into a more traditional romantic drama during its second half. While the review acknowledges that the transition is somewhat jarring, it ultimately argues that this is where One Night Only truly comes alive, allowing the emotional relationship between Owen and Allie to take precedence over the mechanics of its speculative premise.
Critics on the more negative side interpret the same shift very differently. Rather than seeing emotional growth, they view it as evidence that the film never fully decides what it wants to be. Slant awarded the film two out of four stars, lamenting that theatrical romantic comedies have become increasingly rare and arguing that it is especially disappointing when one finally arrives only to resemble an overextended sitcom. The New York Post reached a similar conclusion, calling the film’s premise ingenious at first but describing the finished product as an unsatisfying let-down once the novelty wears off. The Daily Beast also criticised the screenplay for its thin characterisation and excessive product placement, arguing that the film appears more interested in constructing quirky situations than earning genuine emotional investment.
Ultimately, nearly every review circles back to the same fundamental question: how much goodwill are audiences willing to extend to the premise itself? For viewers who are willing to accept the dystopian setup as little more than an excuse for an unconventional romantic comedy, One Night Only offers two immensely likeable leads, a handful of genuinely funny comic ideas and an ending that many reviewers found unexpectedly heartfelt. For those who cannot move past the implications of the world-building, however, the entire film becomes increasingly difficult to embrace, as it raises questions it never seriously attempts to answer.
That tension defines almost the entire critical conversation surrounding One Night Only. Critics are far less divided over the performances than they are over the screenplay. Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner emerge as the film’s greatest strengths, consistently earning praise for creating a believable romantic connection that survives even when the surrounding material struggles to support it. Whether audiences ultimately respond to the film may depend less on their affection for the leads than on their willingness to accept a premise that many critics found simultaneously inventive, provocative and frustratingly underexplored.
For Will Gluck, One Night Only represents another attempt to revive the theatrical romantic comedy with an original high-concept hook. Critics largely agree that the chemistry between its stars gives the film an appealing emotional centre, even if its speculative premise ultimately proves too ambitious for the screenplay to fully explore. It may not repeat the breakout success of Anyone But You, but most reviewers agree on one thing: Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner are a screen pairing audiences will happily spend another night with.
Watch One Night Only Trailer:
Film Details: One Night Only
Director: Will Gluck
Writer: Travis Braun
Cast: Monica Barbaro, Callum Turner, Maya Hawke, Molly Ringwald, LeVar Burton, Julia Fox, King Princess, Quintessa Swindell, Charlie Gillespie, Mike Birbiglia
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hour 42 minutes
Studio: Universal Pictures
Country: United States
Release Date: 7 August 2026
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