Flannery O’Connor said a good man was hard to find, and in the Big 2026, I think finding a good slasher movie is even harder. Sure, it’s not like the heyday of the genre was exclusively hit after hit, but even the more meager offerings (Girls Nite Out, Body Count) were experimental and subversive in ways that today’s modern offerings frustratingly resist. There are some clear winners, but overall, the subgenre is at a stalemate. That’s what makes attempts like The Only One, a new Aussie slasher from filmmaker Michael Schwarz, all the more refreshing. Here’s some slicing and dicing with gusto.
To get an inevitable comparison point out of the way, yes, The Only One bears thematic resemblance to Curry Barker’s Obsession, just with a gender flip and more conventional narrative structure. Between the two of them, The Only One is more successful, and its script (Martyn Pedler and Marek Polgar) has more to say thematically about the roots of obsession (and possession) than Barker’s debut feature. It also features some REO Speedwagon on the soundtrack, and that’s never not going to make me smile.
Starting in medias res (a frustrating choice I rarely think works well), Schwarz’s slasher introduces us to Zoe (Mel Jarnson), an aspiring actress who has dated a ton of people. So, so many. It’s impressive, and Schwarz wisely keeps his optics above water. Yes, contextual characters, including her best friend (Saphira Moran), tacitly and explicitly slut shame Zoe for her sexual conquest, but The Only One as a movie never invites doubt – the killer is the problem, not Zoe’s little black book.
And that black book is the impetus for an unpredictable killing spree when Zoe leaves Los Angeles and returns home to her small Aussie town and discovers a masked maniac knocking her exes off one by one. The structure is almost episodic, and it’s regularly a hoot. Each time a past Casanova is slaughtered—by knife or impalement—there’s another waiting in the wings, oh-so eager to provide sympathy and exploit the smaller playing field for a chance at reconnection. Men ain’t shit, as they say.
It’s Jarnson’s movie, and she’s exceptional, but credit must also be given to the revolving door of ex-flames, especially Ben O’Toole’s nasty cad of a local cop whose police inquiries always regress into renegotiations of what went wrong in their relationship. It’s not a slasher if you’re not eagerly anticipating someone’s demise, and The Only One delivers that in spades.
The killer has a distinct look, too, and is dubbed in-universe as the Prince Charming Killer given their resemblance to a local car dealership’s mascot (though, forgive me, I was certain they were donning a Burger King mask for most of the film). They’re kind of the antithesis of the Heart Eyes Killer from Josh Ruben’s Heart Eyes, given their goal isn’t the annihilation of love, but the preservation of it – if everyone else is gone, Zoe can belong exclusively to them.
Of course, that’s never going to happen, and Schwarz mines considerable suspense from not just the whodunnit nature of the endeavor, but also Zoe’s growing frustration. Aligned with the verve of the modern slasher, she’s active in her own narrative arc, front-lining the effort to unmask the killer and put an end to the rampage, even as those efforts regularly put the men (and women!!!) around her at risk.
The Only One is a slasher with technical prowess, a sharp script, an endearing lead performance, and a bonafide mystery at its core. It does, unfortunately, sink under the weight of the subgenre’s ambitions at times, and that’s largely to do with the slashing itself. The best point of comparison might be Stewart Hendler’s Sorority Row from 2009. That was a contemporary slasher that traded in attitude more than gore, and The Only One operates in much the same fashion. There’s one bit of gnarly, practical dismemberment in the final confrontation with the killer, but otherwise, The Only One is relatively tame when it comes to bloodshed, and otherwise resistant to being inventive when it comes to the tools for slaughter available. There’s a lot of stabbing, is what I’m saying, and the violence is restrained in the made-for-TV variety.
It’s a small slight against an otherwise surefire thing, and for some audiences, the lack of creative violence will be a plus, not a detriment. Even those seeking more bloodshed will still be impressed with how smartly, confidently, and stylishly The Only One reinvents a dated formula for a new age. It falls short of inciting its own slasher renaissance, and I’m not certain I’d kill off the slashers of yesterday in its place, but it’s a fitting reminder that with the right team, what’s old can feel new again.
Summary
The Only One reinvents a dated formula for a new age. It falls short of inciting its own slasher renaissance, and I’m not certain I’d kill off the slashers of yesterday in its place, but it’s a fitting reminder that with the right team, what’s old can feel new again.
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