MOVIE REVIEW: ONE NIGHT ONLY

 

Two New Yorkers search for love on the one night of the year when sex is legal.

Director: Will Gluck

Cast: Monica Barbaro, Callum Turner, Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, Molly Ringwald, LeVar Burton, Michelle Hurd

Release Date: August 7, 2026

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Rated R for sexual material, language and brief nudity.

Runtime: 1h 42m

Review:

One Night Only could have been a fun, mindless rom com propped up by its two stars screen magnetism but framing the whole story in a dystopic, prudish near future makes the whole thing more perplexing than anything.  Will Gluck is familiar with this space, scoring a hit with 2023’s Anyone but You which share quite a few similarities with this film.  His films typically have an easy to watch flow that leans heavily on its stars charisma with Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner bringing plenty of it to this film.   The script offers up plenty of jokes and moments with some landing better than others but overall, it’s a breezy film that offers up a series of misadventures for our central couple to go through before they eventually end up together.  That part is never in question as the film plays out fairly predictably as these lovelorn individuals keep running into other before getting more and more interested in other the course of the night.  Barbaro and Turner are both solid throughout with both bringing a level of weirdness to their generally hot appearances.  They share some solid chemistry together even though the film keeps them apart for large swaths of time which is an odd choice since it makes their “deep” connection feel much less organic than it should by the time it’s all said and done.  It all makes for a fairly standard bit of rom-com silliness that’s entertaining until you think about the concept too much.  The concept offers up a myriad of questions that the film never really seems all that interested in engaging with.  It even wades into some strange acceptance of the whole concept as being romantic and even dropping the line, “Maybe the fascists were right about this one.”  It’s a weird message to end the film on that, for all its sexual romp trappings, seems to land on the government forced chastity side of the argument.  Will Gluck made his name with the Emma Stone vehicle, Easy A, which also dealt with morality, but that film was far more thoughtful in its approach while still working as a comedy, something One Night Only struggles to do. 

C

MOVIE REVIEW: ETERNITY

 

In an afterlife where souls have one week to decide where to spend eternity, Joan is faced with the impossible choice between the man she spent her life with, and her first love, who died young and has waited decades for her to arrive.

Director: David Freyne

Cast: Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen, Callum Turner, John Early, Olga Merediz, Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Release Date: November 26, 2025

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and some strong language.

Runtime: 1h 54m

Review:

Eternity is an old school throwback to golden age romantic comedies with its fizzy, optimistic approach paired with a game cast lead by a luminous Elizabeth Olsen.  Writer/Director David Freyne delivers a fun Twilight Zone set up on the afterlife that's heavy on style albeit light on details on how any of it works.  It’s a fun bit of world building that works well in the film's favor with Freyne giving everything a decidedly 60's aesthetic which adds to the retro feel.  He maintains a steady flow to the action that keeps the film moving at a steady pace throughout with only a few lulls in the action popping up.  The script is filled with sly jokes about death and happiness that are wryly funny but thoughtful at the same time.  The central trio of Miles Teller, Elizabeth Olsen and Callum Turner lean into the material to great effect with each delivering strong work.  Teller carries the early scenes as the newly deceased curmudgeon serving as the audience’s entry point to the story.  He manages to carry the weight of age and experience behind his younger facade he's given once he arrives in the afterlife.  He's a likable everyman who's got a good heart behind his cranky exterior.  Callum Turner plays a solid foil as the perfect romanticized lost love who's been pining and waiting for the love of his life.  They serve as fascinating yin and yang versions of love with one being more grounded and real and the other being far more idealized.  At center of it all is Elizabeth Olsen's Joan who's left with an impossible decision of choosing which one to spend eternity with.  Olsen is simply fantastic throughout as her character navigates a fun run of emotions as she works through her decision.  She's able to give her character an old soul much like Teller with their interactions carrying an air of lived in authenticity.  Its subtle but their moments together do feel like the pair have lived together for nearly 70 years.  On the other end, when Olsen and Turner are together there's more of a tinge of the early embers of passionate love that comes through.  She's excellent across the board as she moves from playful, confused and frustrated with natural ease which lays her talents on full display.  Da'Vine Joy Randolph and John Early round on the cast as afterlife coordinators tasked with helping them choose their eternal destinations.  They are both excellent in supporting turns adding a nice amount of comedy and texture to the story with Randolph stealing every scene she's in.  It all makes for one of the more enjoyable, uplifting rom-coms in recent memory which is sure to make Eternity a cult classic down the road.  

A-