One Of Them Days Review: Keke Palmer And SZA Bring Best Friend Energy In Hilarious Buddy Comedy

With 2025 here, it’s surely another year where we’ll see big screen heroes stop the world from ending and other common movie problems. But isn’t it refreshing every once in a while when the high stakes characters are facing are everyday, relatable problems? Paying rent is a common expense many of us deal with, but what if you had just eight hours to make that money?

This is the story of director Lawrence Lamont’s One Of Them Days: When the first of the month comes along and two longtime friends living in south Los Angeles as roommates realize their hard-earned cash has been stolen, they stress around their neighborhood to find quick ways to earn their money back, and it spirals into an increasingly hilarious misadventure. While it may be kind of the worst day ever for its main characters, it’s simply a great time at the movies to sit back and laugh along to this bright and savvy new comedy.

One Of Them Days not only has a real-world conflict, it has the star power of Keke Palmer and a shining debut out of Grammy-winning artist SZA to its name. (What can’t she do?) It also serves as the feature debuts for two talents from HBO's Rap Sh!t, including Lamont and Syreeta Singleton, who is credited with her first feature screenplay (thanks to producer Issa Rae raising up these names). Genuinely, One Of Them Days starts the new year off with a strong comedy worth spending a girl’s day out on.

Keke Palmer And SZA have a ton of chemistry playing best friends who are down on their luck.

Let's be honest here: from the outside looking in, it could seem like a bit of a stunt casting to have SZA paired with Keke Palmer, considering the chart-topping singer/songwriter has never starred in a movie before, but seeing these two together is electric. Palmer plays Dreux, a waitress who is hoping to turn around her life by nailing an interview – but her highly-anticipated appointment is stained by an honest mistake made by her go-with-the-flow roommate Alyssa (SZA). She gives her shady boyfriend – who has been living for free in their apartment for months – the rent to hand off to the landlord, and once they realize the money hasn't gone where it was supposed to go, Alyssa’s man is suddenly and conveniently nowhere to be found.

In some ways, Palmer and SZA play into the classic opposites attract dynamic we often see in buddy comedies, but they thankfully chart their own path with it too. It’s energizing to see the movie not get too trope-y with their relationship, as Palmer strays away from simply being the straight man. The established star's experience serves One Of Them Days well as she inspires big laughs, but SZA shows she can go toe-to-toe with her with her performance. The Grammy-winner leans into her super cool persona she’s already amassed with her music career as Alyssa, but thankfully finds a way to make her character authentic rather than being simplified into “the dumb one” or being overshadowed by Palmer.

Lawrence Lamont brings a light, stylish approach to his feature debut that makes the Los Angeles setting its own character.

Watching One Of Them Days feels like hearing a great and fabulous story between two best friends who are always getting into something one way or the other every time you see them, and that’s that. There's no super clever twist or larger commentary needed; it’s just a fun romp all the way through. The first-time director uses his eye and sensibilities not only to bring out some fun performances from Keke Palmer and SZA, but a talented supporting cast including Abbott Elementary's Janelle James and Katt Williams.

Additionally, Lamont makes the Los Angeles neighborhood setting of Baldwin Village (aka “The Jungles”) itself a character in a way that feels like a loving parody and homage at the same time. And definitely seems to be inspired by '90s flicks like Friday or Do The Right Thing. Although its shot between rundown apartment complexes, fast food chicken joints, parks and strip malls, the production presents a vibrant and jovial visual aesthetic to the city to match the levity of the movie's tone, despite the dramatic events at play.

There's a no nonsense pacing about the 97-minute comedy, but it welcomes you into its world. One Of Them Days has an effortless slice-of-life quality about it too, where you are being let into inside jokes while also being offered a comforting perspective that encourages viewers to have fun and enjoy the thrills of the ongoing hijinks.

One Of Them Days flies by with a fun comedy premise that is a bright spot for the genre.

Whether it be Dreux and Alyssa meeting the first and only white neighbor in town, signing up for a blood bank to get some extra cash or trying to get a quick loan from “Pay Whenever,” One Of Them Days never takes itself seriously and thrives that way. One of the more foolish sections of the movie involves Dreux and Alyssa being hunted down by a character that almost overstays their welcome in the storyline considering the laughs there run dry pretty quick. And, when the third act comes around, the storyline suddenly goes from the pair tackling one big problem to having to face off against a larger villain that can seem to come out of left field for the viewer. While at first it can feel like a plot point that has been shoehorned in to raise the stakes, it ultimately makes One Of Them Days better and adds even more funny moments to the film's finale. Ultimately, the movie makes good use of a majority of its characters and comedy beats by coming back around to each of them by the time the movie ends.

At a time where it’s not common anymore to see a mid-budget comedy in theaters (let alone see these sorts of films get made in general), One Of Them Days takes things back to the good old days by delivering on a light-hearted, good mood of a movie, and it makes a valiantly good-natured and entertaining effort in the campaign to bring back the comedy genre to the big screen.