A Dystopian New Movie Has the Weirdest Premise Ever. Here’s Everything You’ve Wanted to Know.

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Ever wonder what the world of The Purge would be like if the vice made legal for one day weren’t crime, but sex? I can’t say that hypothetical has ever crossed my mind, but maybe it should have, for it’s given all of us the gift of One Night Only, a buzzy new rom-com starring Monica Barbaro and Callum “Mr. Dua Lipa” Turner. Written by Travis Braun and directed by Will Gluck, a directorial veteran of the genre whose notable works include Easy A, Friends With Benefits, and Anyone but You, One Night Only is set in a version of America where a chastity “mandate” prohibits premarital or extramarital sex, except for a singular 12-hour period each year where everyone gets to get it on.

The zany premise of the film has resulted in an ongoing meme of people joking about living in a world where the big night is real. (Like Old’s “the beach that makes you old” and Challengers’ “the wind that makes you cheat,” there’s just something fun about repeating the words “the one night a year you can legally have sex.”) And yet, despite the obvious parallel to The Purge, a better comparison may be 1984, for the two stories share a fascist government that imposes an insane bevy of rules (and incentives to report rulebreakers) on its citizens in order to keep them in line. In a Reddit AMA, Gluck explained that his team “spent a lot of time talking about the rules of the world,” which he mainly relegated to the literal background in the film, merely hinted at or explained via street signs, posters, and news anchors talking on TVs during scenes. Why? Well, as he says: “We didn’t want the movie to be about that.”

What the movie is about, ostensibly, is two beautiful singles, Owen (Turner) and Allie (Barbaro), who try to navigate this world’s rules on the big night in New York City. Naturally, as any good rom-com would dictate, their paths keep unintentionally crossing until they consider whether or not they should intentionally cross them for the foreseeable future. But, in what may be a first, these attractive people’s sexy adventure time isn’t really what you want to know about. Fear not: I’m here to break down just how something as ridiculous as One Night Only’s dystopia could possibly work.

What’s this absurd-sounding sex law?

Three years before the events of One Night Only began, the United States government instituted a mandate that outlawed premarital sex, with the exception of one night (12 hours, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.) when premarital sex is legal. In the film, it is ingeniously dubbed and marketed as “the One Night.”

Are there any other terms or conditions?

Protection is still required even during the mandate relief, though it’s made clear that the type of protection required is specifically a condom. IUDs, birth control pills, and other contraceptives are not mentioned.

Condoms are hard to come by in the film due to the high demand, allowing the movie to stage a funny scene where Allie and Owen both run around New York, stopping by various bodegas and urgent care centers looking for a place that still has condoms available. This complication also allows for a little sponcon, as Durex is the only brand of condom shown or mentioned in the whole movie. They better have shelled out the big bucks for that!

How is this sex law possibly enforced?

The mandate is enforced by biometric trackers, made by the fictional Rexton Labs, that get implanted into the wrists of everyone over the age of 18. As explained by a tech bro played by Nicholas Braun (aka Cousin Greg from Succession), these sensors measure, in part, dopamine, serotonin, and testosterone as a way to gauge if you’re, well, engaging. When the biosensor registers a spike in levels while near another sensor that’s also spiking, it alerts law enforcement “via 5G.” (As if that weren’t enough snitching, signs in the background of the movie encourage citizens to call a hotline to report others having illegal sex.)

The biosensors take the shape of a tattoo on the wrist that glows red for unmarried people and green for married folks. Each unwed person’s red sensor turns green for the 12 hours that they are allowed to get biblical (as do the chyrons on the subways, which sport a countdown instead of the useful information about what stop is up next—thanks a lot, MTA!). The tattoo can take the shape of whatever the person desires.

What about the—

Let me stop you right there: No, it is never explained how law enforcement checks if unmarried couples having legal sex during this One Night are using condoms.

So, what if teens under the age of 18 want to have sex, as they are … kinda known to do?

I can’t stress to you enough how unanswered this very reasonable question remains.

Hilariously, what we do know is whether this sex law also applies to non-American tourists, to which the answer is: Yes. Gluck told Polygon that in a scene that ended up getting cut, they suggested that even visitors to the States would have to get a biosensor when going through immigration, but “it takes like six seconds.” Why six seconds? Why not?! Is it painless? Who knows! And wouldn’t this absolutely nuke the country’s tourism economy? That’s for other geniuses to figure out!

I presume that if you leave the country, no international law enforcement body cares or is tracking the data from your biosensor just to make sure Americans aren’t living it up elsewhere?

Correct! Allie and Owen pass promotional signs from airline companies encouraging people to fly internationally, where premarital sex is legal.

OK, I have so many questions. The biggest, though, is: Wouldn’t people just keep getting married and divorced to have sex, as a loophole?

Though it’s never stated in the film, there are signs pointing to some rules around marriage to prevent people from just getting married and divorced constantly. Gluck told Polygon that “You have to stay married for one year and one day before you can get divorced. Because if not, people would just go get married, get divorced, get married, get divorced, right?” Damn it, foiled again.

How did this mandate even come to be? Who made this happen?

In a scene showing a conservative-coded politician being interviewed on national news, he explains that “we wanted to go back to a time when sex was reserved for the sanctity of marriage.” Later, in a conversation between Owen’s mom, Linda (Molly Ringwald), and her boyfriend, Rick (LeVar Burton), Rick mentions that the bill was passed by Congress in what was likely a close vote.

As for some justification, the politician explains on air that teen pregnancies are “near zero” and the number of reported sexually transmitted infections have reached “record lows” as a result of this law. He also points to some social reasoning, including quips like: “Now it’s a badge of honor to be an incel.” This politician’s name is apparently Holloway, as indicated by a vandalized campaign poster in Allie’s apartment saying “Resist Holloway.” Vanity Fair reported that an early draft of the movie’s script includes a character named “Senator Holloway,” described as “41, beard, Botox, gives a practiced smile. He definitely does not look exactly like JD Vance.”

When asked why the government allows the rulebreaking for one night, Holloway says that “politics require compromise.” He also makes an unctuous comment about this being the thing that separates the U.S. from other countries and governments, though it’s unclear whether he’s referring to compromise generally or the One Night exception. It is clear, however, that he means it in a disgustingly nationalist way meant to infantilize other countries, especially considering he says it while being interviewed by a Chinese newscaster on a Chinese news station.

What happens if you’re caught doing the nasty without a wedding ring?

The punishment for violating the mandate and having premarital sex at any other time is never explained. At one point, Allie encounters someone who had been in prison and is currently on parole for other crimes, and thus is not allowed to have sex even on the One Night, during which his sensor stays red. However, it’s unclear whether any of his sentence was due to a previous violation of the chastity rule. Gluck told Polygon that his guess is that “if you do it many times, there’s probably fines involved, and then if you ultimately continue to do it, there’s probably some sort of jail sentence,” but the team behind the film “didn’t wanna get that far into it.”

So what is allowed outside the confines of the One Night? Are you allowed to get off at all?

In a scene that takes place at a police station, a poster using bathroom-sign-type stick-figure graphics to explain what counts as legal and illegal sex acts makes clear that masturbation and tamer forms of foreplay are legal year-round, but oral and anal sex are not and must be reserved for the One Night.

What about workarounds? Surely people have found some.

Premarital sex in the LGBTQ+ community is also outlawed under the mandate, but Allie’s roommate implies that the LGBTQ+ community has found ways to skirt the rules. These ways are, sadly, never divulged.

Naturally, as expected for any true American society in 2026, this mandate has also opened a new market. The reason Nicholas Braun’s character is exposition-dumping to Allie about how the sensors work is because he is employed at a biotech company that is working on a pill to mask the rise of the tracked chemicals so that the chips won’t detect when people are having sex. Yeah, that would definitely happen in real life.

About that—what if you’re just having a really good time with someone else? What if you’re eating the most orgasmic cookie you’ve ever had in your life alongside a friend who’s doing the same thing? What if you’re masturbating separately near someone? Could those scenarios still trigger the sensor and make it seem like you’re breaking the law by having premarital sex?

Good questions, none of which are answered or explained.

I will note that Allie has a conversation with a police officer wherein she chastises the officer for enforcing this insane law. But the officer basically tells her that cops don’t like having to run around after people checking to see if they’re having sex either. (“Where’s your conscience?” Allie asks. “With my pension,” the cop responds.) I think it’s fair to assume that in false-alarm scenarios the police still get called and realize their time (and our tax dollars) are being wasted, especially when they arrive to see people doing absolutely nothing sexual.

So, Allie doesn’t agree with the mandate. How does the general public feel?

It’s very clear that general society is not OK with this mandate. There are plenty of signs in apartments and shop windows and plastered onto exterior walls that say “REPEAL,” not to mention the graffiti and street posters that trash the mandate and rally against government surveillance. A part of the film’s plot also includes an anti-mandate concert set to take place at Radio City Music Hall.

This is kind of a dark premise for a rom-com, isn’t it?

If you think too hard about it, yes it is. Not only is it pretty severely fascist (especially considering the citizen-policing hotlines), but you also get a rundown of the number of businesses, big and small, that seek to profit on this ruling. Barbershops and bookstores are shown running One Night deals, and a Chinese restaurant is shown having a One Night special for dumplings. A fake Duolingo ad sports the phrase “Get lingual for the one night,” while other companies, like the aforementioned airlines, also attempt to get in on the action. Beyond the biotech bro’s company working to profit on public health—Allie confirms whether this research could cure Parkinson’s, to which Braun’s character says yes, but “there’s no money in that shit!”—at one point, a character walks past a business sporting a sign promoting “A.I. Sexx Booths,” suggesting there’s lots of money to be made on the margins here.

You’ve only given me more unanswered questions.

I’m sorry! I, too, wondered many things while watching, like how the A.I. booths work, whether divorce rates or sexual assault rates have skyrocketed, or if more people are stuck in deeply unhappy marriages. Someone asked me what happens to married people who practice infidelity or swinging, and I could provide no answer from the movie. There are so many world-building holes, One Night Only may as well be made of Swiss cheese.

Should I go see this movie?

One Night Only makes literally no sense at all. It involves gross bodily fluids (and not even the ones you’d expect out of a sex Purge movie). The politics are scary. There’s an incredible amount of secondhand embarrassment.

And yet, it’s perfect. Give me 10 more films just like this. The chemistry between Turner and Barbaro is palpable, the script is funny, and the movie is full of celebrity cameos. (At one point Julia Fox turns up as a bartender, and both my seat-neighbor and I laughed.) Most of all, it’s charming! I immediately wanted to rewatch it with all of my friends. One Night Only may be terrible, but it’s terrible in the best way possible.