One of Them Days is the first A+ comedy of 2025 and one of the best comedies I’ve seen in years. Directed by Lawrence Lamont and written by Syreeta Singleton, it follows two best friends who are about to go through “one of them days.”
Besties Dreux (Keke Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA) experience one of the most unpredictable days of their lives. Anything that could go wrong does and at one point, their very lives were at risk. The catalyst to their declining day was a theft by Alyssa’s bum boyfriend, spending their rent money on clothes. The pair go to some hilarious extremes in an attempt to recoup their money in a single day. With a literal clock winding down to the second they risk eviction, the ladies will do almost anything to get their rent paid and keep a roof over their heads.
The story feels like Friday but for women. It’s authentically LA, even with the duo housed up in “The Jungles” which tends to be a So Cal favorite for these kinds of films. The casting was perfect as Palmer and SZA had a natural cohesion that didn’t appear forced in any capacity.
The right people were involved in this film. There are hints of the Issa Rae touch that fans of her (especially women) will appreciate. The humor, the situations, and even the difficult conversations had onscreen are fresh and relatable. Dreux (pronounced “Drew”) is a hard worker at a restaurant and loves her job. Her end goal is to be a franchise owner and she achieved her first step by landing an interview with corporate. Alyssa is a struggling artist who’s more focused on her toxic boyfriend than anything else. Alyssa has an artistic talent but lacks maturity. In many places (but especially Atlanta), there’s a term for toxic men like Keshawn (Joshua David Neal): “Hobosexuals”—men who date women for the sole purpose of taking up residence with them. Keshawn was a textbook case with zero job, zero money, and his personal belongings sprawled over every space of their apartment. So someone as irresponsible and unserious as him shouldn’t be trusted with anything, let alone rent money… And that is where the adventure begins.
Keke Palmer is a treasure, boasting a talent and presence that has been showcased across several genres. In this women-focused comedy, she’s hilarious without even trying. The writing is solid and there’s no need for anything extraneous. That’s its gift. The film doesn’t rely on reactionary comedy. There are a few scenes that were overdone but not enough to damage its quality. It survives on solid writing and the dialogue shared between characters. The same can’t be said for SZA, who played a spacey artist who tried every spiritual gimmick until something stuck (calling on the ancestors, the universe, “aligning”, etc.). The way she appeared in the press tours is exactly how her character is in this film and that’s unfortunate because Alyssa was extremely immature and constantly made bad decisions. I understand why she was cast (a lot of people like her music and she’s pretty) but she didn’t give an impressionable performance. You could replace SZA with any other Black actress and nothing would change; the same can’t be said for Palmer.
In typical Issa Rae fashion, everybody got to shine in the cast. From OG’s like Katt Williams and Vanessa Bell Calloway to influencers-turned-actors like Desi Banks and Tony Baker, a wide range of people were featured in this film and every role carried a different type of humor.
One of Them Days gets a 9.5 out of 10. The film is laugh-out-loud funny and the perfect girls-night film for the weekend. It’s Black culture at its finest and that’s thanks to Lawrence Lamont, Issa Rae, and Syreeta Singleton, the latter of who earned her first feature film credit with this project. This boisterous, countdown-to-disaster comedy is worth the price of admission. It definitely earned its R-rating with the amount of sexual content and language.
One of Them Days is in theaters this Friday, Jan. 17!
-Jon Jones
Photos: Sony Pictures
Genre: Comedy
Rating: R
Runtime: 1hr 37 mins.
Trailer: Watch
U.S. Release Date: Jan. 17, 2024.