If I have one regret, it is that I chose to go to the screening for “Presence” (2025) instead of “One of Them Days” (2025). The upside is that my hard-earned dollars supported a Black business venture on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2025. After Dreux (Keke Palmer) works the night shift as a waitress at Norms, she is looking forward to sleeping until it is time for her interview at FisCal Capital Group to open a franchise as a young entrepreneur, but her plans go to hell when landlord Uche (Rizi Timane) bangs on the door demanding rent, $1500. Turns out that Dreaux’s best friend and roommate, artist Alyssa (SZA), gave it to her hobosexual boyfriend Keshawn (Joshua David Neal), who disappears once they discover that the bill is unpaid. Will they find a way to pay the rent, end up homeless or worse? It is a crowd-pleasing comedy, and a theatrical sleeper hit of January.
I avoided “One of Them Days” because I’m predisposed not to find it funny. The threat of homelessness is too stressful for me to find the hilarity in the situation, and movies that use the predicament as a plot point are my version of horror movies. I learned that lesson after watching a drama, “99 Homes” (2015), and finding it almost impossible to watch without being triggered. Unsurprisingly I wanted to metaphorically throttle Alyssa and was psychically begging Dreux to fire her as a friend or at least stop giving money to Alyssa to hold, yet I still found it funny, which means it is probably better than how I am characterizing it.
Veteran actor Palmer has been acting since she was a teenager, and SZA is a newbie whose day job is a singer songwriter. Moviegoers will remember her as one of the singers in “All the Stars,” a song that played during the closing credits of “Black Panther” (2018). Despite the disparity in experience, Palmer and SZA have credible chemistry and have such a luminous presence that even as the get-$1500-quick schemes get more outlandish and unbelievable, part of the fun is seeing how they will get out of the hole. Dreux is the responsible one, and Alyssa is the pick me, man centered friend who keeps putting her in danger. The key to their predicament lies in recognizing their gifts and considering what they do have.
What will make “One of Them Days” memorable is the perfect ensemble cast that brings these characters to life. Mama Ruth (Vanessa Bell Calloway) has turned her home into a lucrative side hustle by meeting the community’s needs, likely in the midst of a food desert. Comedian Janelle James plays a blood bank nurse on her first day. Aziza Scott plays bully Berniece, who needs an action sidequel or at least Scott needs to be considered if James Gunn begins casting for Nubia. Berniece is one of those villains who makes sense especially since she does not know the whole story and just has quick reflexes when people mess with her. Katt Williams steals every scene as Lucky, the neighborhood Cassandra trying to steer the duo away from fiscal irresponsibility. The star and brilliant mind behind “The Blackening” (2022), Dewayne Perkins, has a brief role as the local hairdresser, Jameel. Patrick Cage is gorgeous as Dreux’ potential love interest whose nickname is Maniac. Lil Rey Howery pops in as the savvy Buyer in one of their schemes. Keyla Monterroso Mejia is on a roll in this film as Kathy, a contemptuous loan officer from Payday Whenever, and has another hilarious part in “You’re Cordially Invited” (2025). She is on fire and if she sells stock in her career, consider buying!
If “One of Them Days” performs badly in the foreign box office, it will not be because most of the cast consists of people of color, but because the narrative’s bedrock is so uniquely American that most foreigners will not understand the quotidian nature of our predatory financial environment and think that it is not that exaggerated. The exploitive economy is played for laughs: credit scores, pay day loans, selling blood, illegal evictions, gentrification, bad landlords, sidewalk sales of personal belongings, underground sneaker sales, shoe tossing, bounty hunters, exorbitant ambulance rides, student loans, robbers who steal food and people who use excessive force against them. There is only one explicit example of (internalized) racism. When “The Jungle,” i.e. the LA apartment complex, which is largely rundown, welcomes its first white tenant, a young woman, Bethany (Maude Apatow, yes that Apatow), she unwittingly shows that she gets better treatment than the long-standing members of the community whose apartments are falling into disrepair. Because it is set in California, it also feels like an unofficial prequel to “Sorry to Bother You” (2018). The only critique that I and my film reviewer friend had: the tenants would know that they could not be evicted on the first of the month. Uche would have to jump through considerable legal hoops and need an officer to throw them out.
Normally I detest the trope where two women friends fall out then make up, but it was necessary in “One of Them Days” because Alyssa kept messing up, and Dreux never learned. The confrontation was problematic because it took too long to erupt. Dreux took the lead too many times to solve the situation instead of demanding that Alyssa take one for the team and put herself in danger. When they finally blow up, the story makes it seem as if they are both at fault, and Dreux’s only problem was letting love cloud her judgment. Also, the King Lolo (Amin Joseph) storyline extended far too long and needlessly and exponentially raised the stakes to absurd levels. While closing the loop with an earlier gag was rewarding, the route to get there felt like the most contrived part of the story. The job interview storyline should have ended at corporate headquarters because once her interviewers showed the limits of seeing Dreux as a viable candidate, it is unlikely that anything could change that situation. A lot of toxic moments get brushed over instead of highlighted with danger signs, so the audience walks away with the message that certain behavior is acceptable.
Director Lawrence Lamont and writer Syreeta Singleton’s feature debut is an undeniable success. Singleton worked with “One of Them Days” producer Issa Rae on “Insecure.” It would have been nice to have a Black woman direct the film, but you cannot have everything. While the entire movie is enjoyable, it takes a while before it finds its footing in terms of pacing and reliable laughs. Both do a good job making a comedy movie that makes people laugh out loud. I’m unsure if I could stand the stress if we revisit the two women in the future to see how they are doing, but if they could help make January 20, 2025 into a great day, they can do anything. Resistance through joy and perseverance. Just stop telling Dreux to chill and help her to relax with actions, not words.
