Episode

“One Night Only” Is The Sex Purge (With Josh Gondelman)

Podcast
Critical Darlings
Published
Aug 13, 2026
Duration seconds
5631
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://traffic.megaphone.fm/THI4473455982.mp3
Audio
https://traffic.megaphone.fm/THI4473455982.mp3
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/v1/public/podcasts/critical-darlings-7771666/episodes/one-night-only-is-the-sex-purge-with-josh-gondelman
Markdown
/podcast/critical-darlings-7771666/one-night-only-is-the-sex-purge-with-josh-gondelman.md

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Summary

In a technofascist parallel reality, singles are only allowed to have sex one night a year: it’s One Night Only, AKA The Sex Purge!  Comedian Josh Gondelman joins us to discuss this deeply strange film which has taken the box office by…not very much. Is that more evidence for the slow fade of theatrical rom coms, or is this just a really, really weird movie?   Directed by Will Gluck, and starring Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro, We’re split on the movie’s charms, but we’re mesmerized by the movie’s vision of fascism + rom-com shenanigans. We discuss the movie’s world building, blacklist scripts, Callum Turner lookalikes, it’s lack of comedian supporting characters, the state of the rom-com, and the movie’s both-sides-ing of its own high concept premise. Check out Josh’s newsletter That’s Marvelous, to get up to date tour info, and mail us at [email protected].  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices