Solstice Film Festival 2008

Fifteen New Yorkers go into a Friday night unaware of the fact that their lives are about to change. Larry, an A&R executive, has been sublimating his deep fear of getting older by carrying on an affair with his young assistant, Emily, unbeknownst to his stunning model girlfriend, Mia. Abby, a sensitive college student, worships her older boyfriend Marc, while thinking her friend Clarice is only a child. Michelle is looking forward to meeting Jack, with whom she's flirted online but has never met in person. Wendy is sure she needs a change in her life, but she's not sure what it should be. And Greg, a charming but nervous actor, finally gets to go out with Angelina, the object of a long-standing crush. As the night unfolds, the characters all convene at the same music venue, and their lives intersect in ways both humorous and poignant. We can see that they're driven by an unconscious desire for human connection, and their interactions with strangers reveal to them what they've been missing, allowing them to see others -- and themselves -- in a truer light. By the morning, their lives have changed -- some subtly, some dramatically, but all irreversibly. Many films erroneously call themselves ensemble pieces, but One Night is truly that, emphasized by the many long takes that deliver us from storyline to storyline. Shot entirely on various locations in New York City, One Night is both tragic and hopeful -- it shows how alone and unaware of other people we can be, yet also demonstrates the joy that can happen when we truly open ourselves up to others.

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