A rom-com version of “The Purge”? Writer-director Will Gluck weighs in.

Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro have *One Night Only *to get it on in a world where premarital sex is illegal (first look)

A rom-com version of "The Purge"? Writer-director Will Gluck weighs in.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

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April 28, 2026 9:00 a.m. ET

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Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro in 'One Night Only'. Credit:

Universal Pictures

It's hard enough to figure out who you want to spend the rest of your life with on a normal day. But what if you only had one night a year to, uh, test the waters?

That's the plight faced by the two unlucky strangers at the center of *One Night Only* on what just so happens to be their least favorite day of the year. And E*ntertainment Weekly* has your exclusive first look at where the night leads them.

Starring Monica Barbaro (*A Complete Unknown*) and Callum Turner (*Eternity*) as Allie and Owen, *One Night Only* takes place in a world where premarital sex has been outlawed— except on that one special night. Why?

"No one remembers," writer–director Will Gluck (*Anyone But You, Easy A*) tells EW with a smile. "It's like all things political, no one remembers why. That's not the point. The point is that they have an exception for one night a year."

The rules are simple: for one night only, from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. the next day, people who are not married are allowed to have sex.

If this sounds a bit like the premise of* The Purge* — but for sex instead of crime — then, well, you have a point. But Gluck is hesitant to compare the two premises.

Monica Barbaro in 'One Night Only'.

Universal Pictures

"It's less about the act of having sex and more about the pursuit of it," he says of the rom-com. "So I guess if you were gonna make this analogous to *The Purge*, it would be like spending 12 hours deciding who to murder, as opposed to committing the murder [itself]."

Of course, that isn't the case for everybody. The only reason that Owen and Allie find themselves wandering the streets of New York alone — and then together — is because the people they expected to spend the night with have abandoned them. In Allie's case, that person is her best friend, who immediately pairs off with a stranger. For Owen, it's his (former) fiancée, who decides she'd like to spend her one night of premarital sex with someone else. Ouch.

"So there's two lost souls by themselves in New York City, having no tether and no friends, because they've basically [been] ghosted," Gluck says. But at least they can count on the fact that everybody else is running around like "chickens with their heads cut off."

Put aside the whole "premarital sex is illegal" factor, and this starts to sound a lot like the pains of modern dating. Barbaro certainly thinks so.

"Yes, it is a high concept and kind of a crazy premise in a way. But more than even being a story about sex, it's a story about dating," the actress tells EW. "It's kind of an allegory for dating and how intense it can be when you're seeking true connection with somebody. I feel like it's deeply relatable. It's just supercharged in this one-night premise."

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Gluck agrees. And that intensity is what makes for such a profoundly romantic connection. "The stakes cannot be higher for these two," he adds. "It's the hardest night — the most unromantic night of the year — and they stumble upon a romantic situation. That's the kind of serendipity of it."

For the record, it has not escaped Gluck's notice that, in the vein o*f Easy A* and* Friends With Benefits, One Night Only* has all the raunchy trimmings of a traditional sex comedy but veers towards more heartfelt territory.

"The reason why I kind of steer away from* The Purge *is that you're not gonna be seeing orgies and nudity everywhere. That's not the movie," Gluck says.* One Night Only* has big themes on its mind — intimacy, sexuality, love — but more than anything, Gluck wants to show the audience a good time.

For both Turner and Barbaro, Gluck's name was a major selling point for the movie.

Callum Turner in 'One Night Only'.

Universal Pictures

"I think audiences are willing to go to the theaters to see rom-coms. They just want them to be really good," Barbaro says. "And Will Gluck has a very special ability to make a rom-com sing and earn a spot in the theater space."

Teasing the dynamic between the two single strangers, Turner hints that the spark isn't exactly immediate. But no matter how hard they try, Owen and Allie just can't keep away from each other.

"The universe [is] banging both of them over the head by putting them together over and over and over again on this one crazy night that they both hate," Turner says. "It's almost a cosmic joke, isn't it? That they both hate the night, but it's the night that brought them together."

Clearly a believer in their romance, he adds, "They're soulmates." To which Barbaro interjects, "...Who may or may not end up together— no spoilers."

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Of course, half the fun of a rom-com is that even if the ending feels obvious, getting there is so much fun. The first look images above show Owen and Allie gazing at one another inside a dimly lit pizzeria, in the waning hours of that one special night. But what about all that came before?

You'll just have to watch to find out.

*One Night Only* is slated to hit theaters on August 7.

- Romance Movies

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Source: “EW Romance”