One Night Only ★★★

Released: 28 August 2026

Director: Will Gluck

Starring: Callum Turner, Monica Barbaro, Maya Hawke, Molly Ringwald

One Night Only is the latest romantic comedy to hit our cinemas. Directed by Will Gluck, who was recently behind the commercially very successful Anyone But You and most famously Easy A, and with a stacked cast of A-listers, the movie seemed to be off to a strong start before it even premiered. But does it hold up to its potential? For fans of the genre, it just might.

Set in a New York not so unlike our own, the world depicted in One Night Only has one key difference to the one we live in: pre-marital sex is outlawed in the US except for the titular one night only, when the ban is lifted for 24 hours. Naturally, it is the night where everybody is out in New York, including Allie (Monica Barbaro), a singer who is scared to perform in front of crowds and wants to find a true connection with someone, and Owen (Callum Turner), who was about to propose to his girlfriend before the latter broke up with him and now wants to prove to himself that he can get back in the game.

Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner have great chemistry together. Their humour compliments each other, making the couple feel very authentic on screen and making the audience root for the couple from their very first scene together. Turner steps into the role of a leading man beautifully, as he had done with Eternity late last year, and Barbaro is excellent in the role of a shy, clumsy, but lovable protagonist. Allie could easily fall into a cliché of the characters that all female protagonists end up in, but Barbaro’s performance brings a truthful and human element to the role.

The film doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that is one of its biggest strengths. This allows it to experiment with its humour, which might be cheesy at times, but perfectly fits with the atmosphere of the film and the feel of early 2000s rom-coms. One Night Only does not forget the “com” part of a romantic comedy, ensuring that the audience laughs throughout. It is also not afraid to sit in the awkwardness of some moments, making the story and the characters feel even more real due to their imperfections and their weird, sometimes quirky, sides.

New York is not just the setting of the film, but also its beating heart. As they move around the city, the two protagonists lose and find each other over and over. As much as it is a love story between Allie and Owen, One Night Only is also a love letter to the city itself. This film does not only take place in New York but the setting is such an integral part of it. From the famous subway to the George Washington Bridge and the little red lighthouse by it, from talks of the Empire State Building to Brooklyn Bridge Park, the audience gets to visit some iconic landmarks of the city along with the characters over the course of one night.

The side characters are very interesting, for the little we see of them, but not explored enough. For example, Owen’s mum is a very lovable character and learning more about her and her relationship with her son would have been fascinating. Instead, she ends up only being used for comic relief in a secondary plotline that is easily forgotten in the overall story. While the main couple is very well written and developed, I wish the same could be said for characters who have significantly less time on screen.

Overall, One Night Only is a very fun romcom. It may not be the movie of the year material, but it has been a long time since I heard an entire screen laugh out loud together in the cinema, and that is perhaps the film’s biggest win. It also proves once again that not only are both Barbaro and Turner excellent actors, but they equally suit the romantic comedic genre with wonderful chemistry and very sweet moments with each other.