Charming leads elevate business-as-usual buddy comedy One Of Them Days

It’s easy to fall for the charms on display in One Of Them Days, the comedy from two first-time feature filmmakers: director Lawrence Lamont and screenwriter Syreeta Singleton. This is more than likely owed to the fact that both rising talents have worked extensively with Issa Rae, one of the film’s producers, on Insecure and Rap Shit!, which One Of Them Days emulates in tone and style. The result is an amusing and engaging romp around Los Angeles, a city in desperate need of some love and levity, even if some of the comedic beats can be flatly formulaic. 

Dreux (Keke Palmer, charismatic as always) has been working as a waitress at a local greasy spoon for what feels like forever, with little to show for it apart from a roster of regulars and learned quick-fixes for faulty kitchen appliances. When an opportunity arises for her to move up the corporate ladder of the Denny’s-esque franchise, she eagerly fantasizes about the padded paycheck, which would help her and her struggling artist bestie Alyssa (SZA in a surprisingly solid acting debut) make some much-needed changes to their rundown apartment and dismal financial situation. Of course, the day of Dreux’s promising interview falls on the first of the month, and their West African landlord Uche (Rizi Timane) shows up bright and early to collect his pound of flesh. 

The rub is that Alyssa swore to Dreux that she already paid the rent. Truth is, Alyssa tasked her layabout situationship, Keshawn (Joshua David Neal), with delivering their share to Uche. Instead, he invested the $1,500 in a knockoff T-shirt brand (“Cucci,” to be exact). Threatened with eviction if they don’t deliver the money by 6 PM, Dreux and Alyssa embark on a madcap quest around L.A. to make enough cold hard cash to keep their home. Hijinks ensue as the duo consider predatory payday loans, blood bank grifts, and eBay schemes. Enemies are made along the way, causing the friends to watch their backs—and the money they accrue throughout the day—like their lives depend on it. As the pair soon discover, they actually do. 

Palmer and SZA’s chemistry is remarkably natural. Pairing a performer as reliably entertaining as Palmer alongside a newcomer is risky on its face, but SZA slithers into the film’s slapstick sensibility with a necessarily self-effacing confidence. The humor they generate is genuine, even if the roles played by a broader ensemble of comedy greats are less inspired. Audiences are programmed to cheer when Janelle James appears as a fumbling phlebotomist, and her task here appears to be evoking as much of Ava, her Abbott Elementary character, as possible. The same goes for Keyla Monterroso Mejia, Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Maria Sofia Estrada, who plays an on-brand annoying teller here. Nepo baby supreme Maude Apatow leans into her pedigree as a pitbull-rescuing white girl who moves into a renovated unit in Dreux and Alyssa’s building, signaling the encroaching threat of gentrification. There’s nothing wrong with sticking to what works, especially for a film that’s meant to be a comedic tonic above all else, but that doesn’t make it any less unimaginative. 

When evaluating the narrative core of One Of Them Days, it’s also somewhat difficult to parse what it’s actually trying to say regarding predominantly Black communities in Los Angeles. Is it about aspiring to mold oneself into the perfect diversity hire? Or perhaps how a soon-to-be-displaced community can make the most of inevitable gentrification? These questions certainly linger, but not drastically more than the film’s clever quips and well-crafted gags. Particularly as L.A. grapples with devastating infernos, One Of Them Days serves as an unexpected ode to the tenacity of its residents. Indeed, the film’s climax eerily and inadvertently speaks to these current events, offering a drop of levity amid undeniable tragedy.

Director: Lawrence Lamont
Writer: Syreeta Singleton
Starring: Keke Palmer, SZA, Janelle James, Rizi Timane, Joshua David Neal, Maria Sofia Estrada
Release Date: January 17, 2025