One Night Only is a Muddled Rom-Com That Fumbles Its High-Concept Premise
One Night Only has ambitious goals, but largely fails to land. Attempting to blend dystopian satire with the conventions of a typical romantic comedy produces an unsatisfying result across the board. Although Barbaro and Turner have some on-screen chemistry, the film falls short to the detriment of its viewers as it gets lost in an unproductive fantasy world.
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A Dystopian Framework That Lacks Narrative Teeth
The core conceit of a society with a single 12 hour period where premarital sex is legal has great potential for sharp political commentary. Unfortunately, the film wastes this fantastic idea with a superficial backdrop that leaves the idea even more ridiculous as the night unfolds. Rather than focus on the world of a state run system legislating the bounds of intimacy, the film resorts to tired old examples of romance tropes that ultimately sacrifice the potential of their idea of state run system of sex.
The political satire has been rightfully criticized as not having any bite, and only referencing a few of the issues of the day without answering the questions they bring up. By the second act, the film abandons its idea of a critique of society to resort to a typical, boring courtship. This leaves audiences wondering why this type of framework was even necessary as it serves no purpose to the story other than to become a distraction.
Performance Beats and Structural Fragility
Some of the uncooked ingredients of The Summer I Turned Pretty are in the main characters, Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner. Turner and Barbaro do their best to infuse some warmth into their characters, whose desires are absolutely integral to the screenplay’s clinical October-ish edge. But rhythm is critically important. Some of the chemistry that is crucial for a meet-cute also fails due to uncreative and poorly written dialogue. Maya Hawke, Molly Ringwald, and the supporting cast of The Summer I Turned Pretty have little to do, which illustrates the script’s failure to create fully dimensional characters beyond the main cast.
The editing of the script is reflected in jumpy pacing that seems to present no narrative. It is better to adjust the length to remove scenes, but it was actually the opposite; the director chose to fill the narrative with individual scenes. The absences of both strong and consistent visuals of the New York City night life photographed by Yaron Orbach do not save the film from being a passive and unsatisfying commentary and romance.
Final Verdict for Potential Viewers
If you’re a fan of rom-coms with a twist, you may like the basic idea behind this film. Although, if you’re looking for something outside the box, this definitely won’t cut it. If you’re just looking for something you can keep on in the background while you work and not think too hard about, you’ll probably enjoy some of the cast along the way.
If you’re a bit more critical with your funny films, this is a hard skip. The film tries to have a moral center, but also has all the makings of a traditional cute romance, and where they meet in the middle makes the whole thing pointless. Which, for a genre film, isn’t the worst fate. The moral of the story: If you want to make a rom-com, keep it simple.
