Movie Review: One Night Only

I finally got around to watching One Night Only and all I can say is, the mandate cracked me up. I can't imagine what would have pushed the screenwriters to come up with such an idea. The biosensors do not even make it any easier because why would you tag people to ensure they don't participate in non-marital sex, with protection being compulsory? This dystopian era is so weird. Never in my life would I think such a storyline would exist, but it does, and I watched for Callum Turner. He was great in Eternity, so why not?

Marriage by Convenience

While at his mum's, Owen mentioned how his friends all got married because they could not “handle the mandate”, and it immediately raises a concern. Are people in this society marrying for love or freedom to have sex? It would also suggest divorce rates are lower. Kudos to the guy who explained how the sensors work because I was wondering how the Mandate knew who had sex and who didn't.

Their Love Lives

What’s a romcom without two single people, or almost single people, finding each other after a series of misadventures? While Owen’s job is practically reasonable, Allie’s is questionable. She creates music covers for products. Imagine me singing “Making My Way Downtown” only for it to turn to an ad commercial for female products. Yeah, definitely fantasy land.

And Owen’s girlfriend starting the story by suggesting he sleep with someone else on their one single sex-free day is absurd. If you don't love someone, break up. Suggesting alternative sex options for one night speaks to building the plot rather than making common sense.

Owen and Allie

Honestly, I sat through the movie because I love Callum and enjoyed Monica in Top Gun: Maverick. Those two carried the absurdity of the plot, vehicle, and storyline. Each encounter and run-in had me laughing and wondering why they could not just see they were meant to spend the day together. It was hilarious to a certain degree if you look away from so many other things.

I get that it's fiction, and I mean, if this were a book, it would be insane. It's not a bad movie by itself. It's a predictable romcom with unpredictable in-betweens. So, you knew they would find out they were meant to be with each other, but the chaos that ensues in the pursuit of a condom is what throws you off entirely.

Should you watch it? I guess. As long as you use it for relaxation and not trying to build a practical world map from it. All we know is that one day, a group of people came together and decided, hey, STIs are too high, teenage pregnancies are high, why don't we cap marriageless sex and give them just one day to get high?

It's funny, I know, but that was it.

In the crazy world we find Owen and Allie seeking true love and not meaningless sex. The odds, right? That you would almost vomit on the one you would end up with.

They should have given us a one-year-later at least to compensate for the almost two hours we sat there. A one-year-later where they are now seriously dating and have enjoyable love sessions on their given day.

Anyhoo, that's that.