Only for One Night (2016) Directed by Chris Stokes
There only are a handful of things that prevent this movie from being a pretty decent thriller. However with movies a handful of weak elements is more than enough to turn a movie into an extremely forgettable and lacking experience, as also is the case with this movie.
First of it; this most definitely is not the most original genre movie around. It features a "Fatal Attraction" type of plot, and when I say "Fatal Attraction" type of plot I mean that the movie blatantly rips it off at times. At the same time it's still refreshing to see a modern low-budget genre movie take on such an approach, without trying to overdo anything. It's a simple movie with its story, approach and characters but that's what makes it pleasant to watch at the same time. It's a shame that the story is far too lacking at parts to consider this a very successful genre attempt as well though.
It's a big problem for the movie that it's never being much of an original or surprising one with any of its twists but it maybe is an even bigger problem that the story never comes across very convincingly. Some of the actions by the characters are hard to follow and believe, while the fact that the acting is absolutely terrible at times also doesn't contribute to the story its credibility.
Brian White (or Brain White, as this movie credits him as) is actually pretty decent and likable enough as the main character but the two female leads, Karrueche Tran and Angelique Pereira, are absolutely terrible in this. Especially during the more tense and dramatic moments their like of acting skills become painfully obviously. It absolutely ruins most of the tension, next to making the movie a far too unconvincing one.
Because nothing comes as a surprise- and the story never works out as a very convincing one, the movie remains incredibly lackluster as well. And really, the right ingredients were still there. It honesty is a pretty good looking- and otherwise well put together little genre movie. It's therefore hard to say how much director Chris Stokes is really at fault here. I for one definitely wouldn't mind seeing future movies by him, since he definitely seems to have a sense of style and storytelling, despite the fact that the story is absolutely lacking in this movie.
Not the worst genre movie you can watch but at the same time still not really worth your time either.
5/10
Watch trailer
First of it; this most definitely is not the most original genre movie around. It features a "Fatal Attraction" type of plot, and when I say "Fatal Attraction" type of plot I mean that the movie blatantly rips it off at times. At the same time it's still refreshing to see a modern low-budget genre movie take on such an approach, without trying to overdo anything. It's a simple movie with its story, approach and characters but that's what makes it pleasant to watch at the same time. It's a shame that the story is far too lacking at parts to consider this a very successful genre attempt as well though.
It's a big problem for the movie that it's never being much of an original or surprising one with any of its twists but it maybe is an even bigger problem that the story never comes across very convincingly. Some of the actions by the characters are hard to follow and believe, while the fact that the acting is absolutely terrible at times also doesn't contribute to the story its credibility.
Brian White (or Brain White, as this movie credits him as) is actually pretty decent and likable enough as the main character but the two female leads, Karrueche Tran and Angelique Pereira, are absolutely terrible in this. Especially during the more tense and dramatic moments their like of acting skills become painfully obviously. It absolutely ruins most of the tension, next to making the movie a far too unconvincing one.
Because nothing comes as a surprise- and the story never works out as a very convincing one, the movie remains incredibly lackluster as well. And really, the right ingredients were still there. It honesty is a pretty good looking- and otherwise well put together little genre movie. It's therefore hard to say how much director Chris Stokes is really at fault here. I for one definitely wouldn't mind seeing future movies by him, since he definitely seems to have a sense of style and storytelling, despite the fact that the story is absolutely lacking in this movie.
Not the worst genre movie you can watch but at the same time still not really worth your time either.
5/10
Watch trailer
