The Film Sex That Disappeared

In “One Night Only,” sex between unmarried people is forbidden in the near future. The film does not explain what kind of dystopia produced the ban, or why it exists. Owen and Allie still believe they may find lasting love, but when the authorities allow people to sleep with anyone once a year, they decide to save themselves.

The choice is strange enough. Stranger still, the filmmakers give the story what the reviewer calls the year’s most peculiar happy ending, rather than having the couple rebel against the totalitarian system dictating their sex lives.

The film is part of a wider retreat from sex on the big screen. Director Will Gluck recently told Variety that audiences, especially younger viewers, no longer want to watch sex in films. They would rather view sexual or erotic material on their own phones. When they watch a film collectively, he said, sex scenes feel awkward. If they want to share such material, they do so through their own small screens.