MIFF: One More Shot is a night you'll want to remember (2025)

Anna Salome reviews One More Shot by Aussie director Nick Clifford, a dark comedy time loop.

Our ensemble waiting to celebrate Y2K (Image: MIFF)

One More Shot is a time loop comedy set on New Year’s Eve 1999 at the turn of a new millennium. Protagonist Minnie (Emily Browning) jumps at the opportunity to make an appearance at the New Year’s Party in Melbourne that her ex-boyfriend Joe (Sean Keenan) is attending. Her plan? To re-ignite the flame with an ex-lover, which is put on hold when she realises he has a new girlfriend. A magical tequila shot later, and she is back to the beginning of the night. Each shot of tequila is another shot at Joe, but will she grow and realise that some relationships have a time and place, or continue her attempts to win back Joe’s heart? 

Have you heard of Groundhog Day (1993) and Palm Springs (2020)? Nick Clifford’s feature film directorial debut, One More Shot, provides a fresh take on the time loop genre, embracing comparisons to its predecessors and creating new lore. Typical time loop films feature a character forced to relive the same day with no control over when it ends; however, One More Shot takes a new approach, with protagonist Minnie controlling her time loop, making her choices feel more intentional.

Premiering in Texas at South by Southwest Film Festival in March this year, One More Shot arrives at MIFF for its international premiere as part of MIFF's premiere fund. Overall, the movie has been a hit, with generally positive reviews and 7.5/10 on IMDB.

Self-reflection is a typical theme of Groundhog Day-esque films. Most characters are in the loop because they are a morally bad person or have made some mistakes that they need to account for; One More Shot is no different, with Minnie needing to come to terms with her relationships and future.

A common issue when reliving the same day is that the story can begin feeling repetitive and become boring. After the screening, I spoke to an audience member to discuss what she thought about the pacing in time loop films. Jemma mentioned that sometimes you “need to get through the first few times…then we can go on that journey with them.” I found that One More Shot handles this issue well with Minnie realising that she controls her time loop relatively quickly, meaning we get to the meat of the film pretty quickly.

Emily Browning as Minnie in One More Shot (Image: Ben King/MIFF)

While repeating the same New Years Eve party could've been boring, Emily Browning's charasmatic performance kept it fresh and fun, and there's plenty of wittiness and physical humour from the cast that keep it uniquely Australian. After the screening, I spoke to another audience member to hear what they thought of the Australian nature of the film. Ruby said that “if it were American, it could have been a bit cringe.”

The concept of One More Shot is timeless, and really, the setting could be anywhere at any time. While the soundtrack was very 90s, with hits by The Cranberries and Mr President setting the scene, I felt like a more naturalised Australian 90s aesthetic could have been embraced.

But, at its core, One More Shot is a fun, light-hearted flick about self-discovery and biting the bullet on our bad choices. After MIFF regional screenings until the 22nd, One More Shot will continue its festival run at Cinefest Oz in September, and will be coming to Stan hopefully soon.

(In Order) Aisha Dee, Sean Keenan, Ashley Zukerman and Pallavi Sharda in One More Shot. (Image: Ben King/MIFF)