One Night Only (2026) No Spoiler Review: Monica Barbaro and Callum Turner Are Great, the Premise Just Isn't

One Night Only (2026) poster

One Night Only wastes two genuinely charming leads on a gimmicky premise that a little better writing could have actually pulled off.

Will Gluck directs, the same guy behind the glossy two-lead rom-com machine that gave us Anyone But You (2023, starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell), and he’s running the same play here: sell the whole thing on the appeal of its two stars. I’ve been following Monica Barbaro since I saw her in Top Gun: Maverick (2022). I know Callum Turner from Eternity (2025), where he was touted as “more handsome than Miles Teller” (note: not more charming). This one was heavily marketed on the two of them.

This is two movies in one. Literally split down the middle. The first half runs on a ridiculous premise, which is interesting for about 10 minutes. There were 4 meet-cutes, which was interesting, but they still served the plot. It’s fun to see all these “rom-coms” play on meet-cutes.

But really, the second half of the movie should be able to stand on its own. It’s such a shame. The movie and the cast are wasted on a silly premise that isn’t even needed. A little more creative writing could have totally saved it.

Callum Turner is a pretty decent leading man. They get to flaunt that Monica Barbaro can sing. She sings in like 4 separate instances in this movie.

The soundtrack was pretty good, except for one Maroon 5 song, which I actually liked. It oddly seemed to fit, but only because it captures “the period” for me personally, the specific phase of my life when all that was happening. If that’s the reason, then it doesn’t actually fit the film itself. Other than that one song, the soundtrack was pretty good.

Lots of fun cameos playing side characters. Shout out to Maya Hawke and Ben Marshall from Saturday Night Live (SNL). For some reason, LeVar Burton and Molly Ringwald are here too, which did not make sense at all. This film almost feels like 30% marketing. Durex also gets MAJOR shout-outs. They clearly paid to be in this movie.

Part of the marketing here is Monica Barbaro’s boob-liberating dress. It’s the one on the poster, and she wears it through 85% of the movie. It definitely catches your attention. Again, they know the assets they’re selling. Marketing.

One scene that took me out of it a bit: Monica finally gets out of that dress and replaces it with a long-sleeved shirt, but with only one button done up, which was really funny. They’re not wrong, but it’s just funny.

It was an okay no-expectations watch, and genuinely funny in a lot of parts. Casting directors, give the 2 leads another shot at a rom-com. Better yet, get Andrew Garfield and Monica Barbaro in a rom-com together. Would totally see that.

★★★☆☆ for me, ★★☆☆☆ for her.

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