One Year Off

Movie review by Brian Costello, Common Sense Media
One Year Off Movie Poster: Ben and his friends on the island.

Common Sense says

age 13+

Cliched romcom has lots of drinking, some innuendo.

PG-13 2023 0 minutes
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  • One Year Off: Ben and his friends have fun at sunset.
  • One Year Off: Ben on a date.
  • One Year Off: Two White women look unahppy

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that One Year Off is a 2023 romcom in which an Englishman inherits property on a Caribbean island and decides to start a wedding business with his friends. Expect a lot of drinking; nearly every scene features one if not all of the main characters drinking cocktails and/or wine. Cigar smoking. Occasional mild profanity ("bitch," "bastard," "crap," damn," "ass"). Some potty humor. Suggestive behavior -- a woman makes orgasmic sounds while eating grilled asparagus at dinner. Middle-aged women make suggestive comments toward younger men while drinking on the beach. One of the lead characters opens up her boyfriend's smartphone and finds a text from another woman that asks him when they're meeting up and includes and eggplant and peach emoji.

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What's the Story?

In ONE YEAR OFF, Claire (Nathalie Cox) is a thirtysomething Londoner who thinks she has finally found Mr. Right. But when she discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her, she's ready to make big changes in her life. Fortunately, she gets a call from her old friend Ben (Jeff Fahey), who tells her that he has inherited property in the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, and offers to fly her and all of their friends across the pond to check it out. Ben, Claire, and the others are immediately enchanted with the island paradise of Nevis, and Claire hits upon the idea of starting a wedding business there, with the plan of staying for at least a year. She soon meets the local Harry (Chad Michael Collins), and as the wedding business slowly starts to build, she thinks she may consider staying a bit longer than one year.

Is It Any Good?

Beautiful scenery, mawkish story. One Year Off is a basic romcom that follows the formula to a t, and the only unique aspect to it is that it's set on the Caribbean island of Nevis. It's better eye candy than the usual urban romcom settings, but with characters like "the middle-aged woman who can't seem to find Mr. Right," "her sassy gay best friend," and "the tipsy middle-aged friend who has no reservations about flirting with younger men," even the waves, sand, and lush setting get to be tiresome.

There's a tiny bit of charm to it, and there's almost a story there, but the other problem is that this movie has no real conflict. The closest it gets is when their wedding business takes a hit after the family of the bride get food poisoning that results in lengthy flatulence sound effects and no doubt as to what's about to happen to these unfortunates. But hey: Nevis looks like a nice place to plan your next island vacation.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about romcoms like One Year Off. How is this similar to and different from other romcoms you've seen?

  • What were some of the cliches in the movie? Do cliches in movies affect your enjoyment? Why or why not?

  • How did the movie present aspects of the lives and culture of the people who are from St. Kitts and Nevis? How was this in contrast to the lives of the main characters?

Movie Details

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