One Night Only - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

One Night Only



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:

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Movie
I’m going to admit that I never even watched the trailer for One Night Only when I saw the press release come out. I simply posted it and went along my merry way, as modern rom-coms don’t exactly jive with me usually. So imagine my surprise when I popped in the disc and the opening few minutes unveiled the plot. Basically, in the not-so-distant future, premarital sex has been outlawed by a certain party (they don’t even try to hide which side of the political aisle it is; the stereotypes are on full display), and people are implanted with trackers that report you to the police when you do the deed, and you’re NOT married. Married people are, of course, given trackers that allow them to do it with impunity. BUT, the United States has given people one night a year where they have unlimited access to each other from dusk till dawn. Sort of like, no, EXACTLY like The Purge. Except instead of killing each other, you’re doing each other. Oi Vey.

Set in New York City, we follow along with Pizza shop owner Owen (Callum Turner) and Allie (Monica Barbaro), both young kids looking for something on the fateful night. Owen is excited to be with his girlfriend and has a ring to propose at Dinner, but things fall through at the last moment when his girlfriend decides to drop a bombshell on him,m in which she lets him know that she wants to do the hunky neighbor down the hall (which hilariously is Glenn Powell, who only shows up as a picture on her phone). Stunned and in disbelief over the turn of events, Owen decides he might as well sow his wild oats like the rest of them.

Simultaneously, Allie is looking for a real connection. Like every red-blooded youngster with pent-up hormones, she’s going out to hit up bars for the typical deed, but her real goal is finding that ONE person who sticks by her through thick and thin. And while Owen is looking for a hookup (but not really), Allie is doing the same thing. Now it’s a series of unfortunate events as both of them go through the motions of trying to hook up this night, while both sabotaging their own efforts as their secret wish for ACTUAL meaningful love holds them back and slowly pushes them together.

At first I was rolling my eyes so far back into my head that they physically hurt from the effort, but One Night Only doesn’t play the plot as being serious. Instead, it winks and nods at the camera the entire time, playfully lampooning the concept by subtly (and not so subtly) making comparisons to Valentine's Day, where everyone price gouges you, the ridiculous nature of trying to control young hormones, and countless other tongue-in-cheek jabs at the concept that the characters are taking seriously, while giving leeway for the audience to laugh and mock it just a bit. The first hour is actually pretty fun, with lots of run-ins and hijinks ala the movie Serendipity, only for the last act to squander it all.

And it's not even that the last act squanders anything. It actually goes exactly how I expected it to go. The problem is that it is so on the nose for the final 30 minutes that it sort of clashed with the tongue-in-cheek first 2/3rds. That last 1/3rd is taken at face value, going straight for the proverbial heart with the heartfelt romantic ending. An ending that works in concept, but feels cheap and overdone when compared to the cheekier first hour.

Callum and Monica do a good job of having on-again, off-again chemistry, but it was really the side characters that gave the film its spice. LeVar Burton, Molly Ringwald, and Flavor Flav all steal the scenes they’re in, and a bit of a wink and nod to Glenn Powell and Sydney Sweeney in Anyone But You crop up in a few photos as well.

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Rating: R for sexual material, language, and brief nudity.




Video:
Universal’s Blu-ray presentation looks good too, with a really nice digital shoot that sparkles in many ways. The film has a very bright and contemporary feel, with sharp detail levels and strong color saturation without overly heavy grading going on. There’s a bit of a cool blue tinge at times, but most of thenighttimee shoot is filled with rich colors and some really impressive black levels. My only complaint about the film is that things can look a little bit soft in some shots. Daylight shots look really clean and glossy, but there’s some slight haze going on during the nighttime shots, especially in the club scene and the time spent running around the city at night. It’s not massive, but this just isn’t a showstopper. Just a good romantic comedy image that does everything well without being spectacular.


Audio:
Being this is a rom-com, I was especially surprised at the Dolby Atmos track found on the Blu-ray. It’s not the most dynamic mix or the most explosive, but it does make great use of musical numbers and some robust club scenes that push the listener right into the center of the chaos. But a vast majority of the film is spent listening to characters talk and gab in between attempts at hooking up. Dialogue is crisp and clean, with a strong presence in the front of the room, with the hubbub of New York City. LFE is restrained and mainly used for the music, but the club scene near the hour mark really spices things up a bit. Overheads are also mainly used for music and some ambient city noise, but there are some fun discrete moments in the before mentioned club scene.


Extras:
• FEELING SPARKS – It takes two to rom-com. See how Callum Turner, Monica Barbaro and Will Gluck bring this unforgettable film to life.
• PIZZA 101 WITH CALLUM TURNER – Go behind the counter with Callum Turner as he perfects the art of pizza making.
• THE PLUS ONES – ONE NIGHT ONLY is full of cameo appearances. In this piece,e we highlight all the talent behind these roles.
• NO GLUCKS GIVEN – This making-of offers an insider view of what it’s like to create a film as fun and romantic as this one, with New York City as its backdrop.

Final Score: ​

Simply put, One Night Only is a silly comedy version of The Purge, just with hormones instead of rage and death. And it works in small bits, but fails miserably as a rote and boring comedy in other ways. I wanted to like it more than I did, and I was actually getting into it until after the nightclub scene where Owen and Allie start actually connecting. After that, it's all downhill. The Blu-ray looks and sounds good, has some decent extras, but this is a rental for the most part unless you’re really a fan of the film.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Callum Turner, Tyonne Chambers, Grace Dumdaw, LeVar Burton
Directed by: Will Gluck
Written by: Travis Braun
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French, Spanish DD+ 7.1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Universal
Rated: NR
Runtime: 103 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 20th, 2026

Recommendation: Rental