When the trailer for One Night Only, Will Gluck’s new rom-com starring Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner, dropped, its absurd premise ignited a firestorm of debate across social media. In the movie, Allie (Barbaro) and Owen (Turner) play “two strangers [who] crash into each other in an ever-so-slightly fictionalized New York on the one night when single people are allowed to have sex,” as the official logline reads. The questions were immediate: How is the mandate enforced? What counts as sex in this sexless world? Why? How? What? The movie answers all of these questions (some more comprehensively than others) but the point is: One Night Only is a romantic comedy, emphasis on comedy. It’s supposed to be absurd. It’s supposed to make you laugh at the caricature portrayals of politicians who would enforce such archaic, puritanical beliefs. It’s close enough to reality — incels and tradwives alike are already pushing the anti-hookup culture agenda — that the jokes land. The premise is also just a purposely ludicrous backdrop to the love story.
And Barbaro and Turner are so delightfully charming together that as you’re watching the film, the logistics and terrifyingly fascist implications of the aforementioned premise fade away and it becomes a fun, adventurous, flirtatious romp between two young, hot, horny singles. Try not to overthink it. When Refinery29 talked to the One Night Only stars in New York City before the film’s release, Barbaro and Turner were playful and at ease with each other, slipping easily into banter mirroring that of their characters, Allie and Owen. As Allie, Barbaro is engaging, slightly neurotic and relatably confident in one moment and insecure the next. As Owen, Turner is a solid leading man, delivering impeccable longing looks and yearning glances while also playing the faux bravado of a young man on the prowl perfectly. Together, they are a joy to watch. The pair are often in headlines for their dating lives (Turner just married mega pop star Dua Lipa and Barbaro is reportedly dating fellow actor Andrew Garfield), but their talent should stand on its own. They are both formidable romance leads. Here, the stars defend the movie’s controversial premise, make a case for getting serenaded on a date, and rattle off each other’s coffee and pizza orders without hesitation.
The premise is so wild, but the movie grounds it in reality. There are — terrifyingly — moments where I was like, “Oh, this could actually happen.” There’s a reference to incels, and as some of the politicians are speaking, it makes you think, “Wow, we’re maybe not too far off.” So, if this did happen in real life, how do you think it would go down?
Monica Barbaro: I think parts of this movie feel pretty familiar. I think it would feel like this really high-stress thing where everyone feels like they have to make the most of this one night, and maybe along the way forget about the more important deeper connections that can also [happen].
Callum Turner: The night’s kind of like New Year’s Eve, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, 4th of July, wrapped into one.
MB: Chaos.
CT: It’s chaos.
MB: And it’s that thing where, I feel like every New Year’s, I want to do something really nice, or Halloween, I’m like, I’m going to wear this, I’m going to do this costume, and I’m going to make it really fun. That happens in like early September, and then by the time it’s October 28th, I’m like, “Oh, shit. I have to find something in my drawer.” I would never be able to plan out my One Night Only well and then inevitably be disappointed.
The movie sets up the disappointment, but it also sets up this anticipation and the buildup, and desperation that would come with a premise like this. One of the back and forths that I love between your characters is debating whether the buildup or the after is the best part of sex. Who are you with in that argument?
CT: I think they’ve both got points.
MB: I think they both have a solid case [laughs]. There are 365 days of the year, we’d be absolutely fine. Humans would be fine.
CT: As celibate?
MB: [laughs] I’m just saying the build up and the after both are great [but] I don’t believe in this mandate. I don’t think it should happen. Nobody accuse me of that, please. I would move to another country!
There are two different instances where Allie is being sung to on a date. In one, she is charmed by it. And in the other, she gets the ick. Do you think there’s ever an okay time to be sung to on a date?
MB: I think there’s always an okay time to be sung to. I think it’s more the lyrics of that particular song.
CT: The first song you’re singing with him, too, right?
MB: Yeah. He sings first and it’s lovely, and she sings along. One of my favorite lines in this whole movie is, “It’s not a duet.” It’s one of my favorite moments.
So, you’re all for being serenaded?
MB: Yeah, it’s just that then if you turn the lyrics to something that I won’t say, that’s the end of that.
CT: Now I have the lyrics in my head.
MB: He has this thing where if you say a song, he has to start singing it. See, he’s sweating.
CT: That one I’m not going to do.
MB: We have to get a new song in his head. Um, Stand By Me! [laughs]
CT: I’m not going to do it.
In the movie, it’s said that you don’t know somebody unless you know their pizza and their coffee orders. So, what are your pizza and coffee orders?
CT: [Monica’s is] Cortado, oat milk. Margarita pizza, but if she’s feeling a little crazy, then she’ll throw everything on there.
MB: Callum’s is a cappuccino, margarita pizza.
CT: Oh, we know!
MB: We said it like we’re really sad [but] we just locked in [laughs].
If you haven’t been keeping up on rom-coms, romance is back in a big way on TV and on film. Why do you think it left for a while and why do you think it’s back?
MB: I definitely think right now people need that catharsis. It’s kind of a wild time and even just like people trying to date in a big city, I think this movie feels cathartic for at least like friends of mine because I think they can see themselves in Allie and see that experience, like see those moments in dating where suddenly, “Oh, this turned. I got to get out of here.” Um and I think it’s just so fun to watch because of that.
CT: And people love love. People love love! And watching people fall in love. And that’s what they get to do in this film.
One Night Only is in theaters now.
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