Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Singers fall in love; mild language and some smoking.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
One Hit Wonder
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Lorina (Sue Ramirez) has a nice enough voice and, with her dad's encouragement, she's been singing in contests in the Philippines since she was little. Years later, as ONE HIT WONDER begins, teenage Lorina is still mourning her dad's long-ago death, grief that overcomes her as she freezes on stage at an important televised 1984 singing championship. To make ends meet, her mom takes a caretaker job in San Francisco, leaving Lorina to move in with her aunt and her singing cousin Jocelyn (Vivoree), also known as Lyn-Lyn. Lorina works at a record store and as personal assistant to Lyn-Lyn, seemingly a rising star. Lorina occasionally will go out on a break and sing her heart out on an urban rooftop, somehow thinking no one will hear her wailing above a busy city. Entoy (Khalil Ramos) does hear her and stalks her into singing with his band. She ultimately becomes his girlfriend. When she freezes at a crucial performance with the band and decides to join her mother in San Francisco, they break up. Will they find each other again?
Is It Any Good?
No one will mistake One Hit Wonder for a great film or even a good one. Here, a singer with average talent has stage fright and lets go of her dream of singing professionally. She meets a guy with an equally average voice, but he has the love of performing and, we're told, the fire to fight his way to a seemingly successful career. "I know our band has what it takes," he says confidently, as that's all it takes. Still, the difficulty of making it in the music industry is treated as something that everyone with half a voice can achieve as long as they have faith, grit, and patience. When we're informed his band has made it, we're told his band has "taken the music field by storm," an unintentionally funny line, and that they are opening for Bon Jovi.
This simplistic presentation of how the world works imbues every aspect of the story, from what it's like to have a lowly job to what it's like to miss a parent working abroad and what it's like to fall in love. They all happen here, but never convincingly. Characters have no depth and never seem to face anything resembling real life because the writer-director hasn't created a world that looks anything like real life.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how easy becoming successful in the music world is made to seem here. What does the movie miss about making it in the music industry?
What do you think of the singing and the songs here? Do they feel good enough to become popular? Why, or why not?
What are some other films about making it in the music business? How does this one compare?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : August 21, 2025
- Director : Marla Ancheta
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Writer(s) , Asian Movie Writer(s) , Filipino Movie Writer(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Drama
- Run time : 112 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : August 29, 2025
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