The movie, which imagines a world where premarital sex is illegal except for a single annual night, faced scrutiny over its handling of sexual content, with Gluck describing the decision as a response to shifting viewer preferences.
A World Built on Absurdity, Anchored in Reality
“One Night Only” introduces a dystopian premise: the U.S. government enforces a ban on premarital sex, except for a 12-hour window each year. The film, directed by Will Gluck, who previously helmed “Easy A” and Anyone But You,
leans into the absurdity of its concept while focusing on the romantic misadventures of its leads, Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner. Variety reported that Gluck intentionally kept the world-building in the background, stating, I didn’t want the movie to be about that. It’s more about how our characters navigate life.
The film’s logic, however, invites questions. How is the ban enforced? Why hasn’t the population migrated to Canada? Variety cited Gluck’s explanation: It’s like when COVID started, there were rules, and then people started to do other stuff, so then more rules came out.
Why the Nudity Was Cut: A Response to Audience Shifts
Gluck revealed in Variety that the decision to remove nudity stemmed from “empirical data” showing a generational shift in audience preferences. Recent studies have found that Gen Z and Gen Alpha don’t want to see sex on screen,
he said, though he clarified the issue wasn’t limited to younger viewers. It’s been a societal shift from taking nudity in adult situations and putting them on your phones at home for everybody. Now it’s more of a private, intimate thing that people don’t want to see when they’re in a shared experience.
The review noted that “One Night Only” avoids the gumption to interrogate its satirical gimmick,
instead focusing on the leads’ chemistry.
The Role of Intimacy Coordinators and Real-Life Relationships
Despite the film’s cautious approach to nudity, Variety highlighted the use of an intimacy coordinator to manage scenes involving extras. We cast real-life couples in various stages of relationships,
Gluck explained. It was fun because there were married couples, people who broke up during the movie and people who became couples so they could do that.
Gluck admitted the cuts were necessary: You’re engaged in the characters and what’s going on, and then you pan over and there’s two naked people having sex, and you watch the audience… it’s a physical thing.
Reception and the Future of the Rom-Com Genre
AP News’ review called “One Night Only” a disappointingly denuded comedy
that fails to fully explore its satirical potential. It’s more successful as a meta comedy about a pair of charismatic Hollywood stars reckoning with their onscreen sex appeal,
the review concluded.
In Variety, he described “One Night Only” as a “WOM-com” (word-of-mouth comedy), echoing the success of his 2023 film Anyone But You.
What Comes Next: A Film to Watch, and a Trend to Monitor
One Night Only,
released by Universal Pictures, runs for 102 minutes and is rated R for sexual material.
