‘One Of Them Days’

Comedy is a world within itself, in a language we all understand. Its subgenres are meant to live on forever. Romantic comedies will always give people a fantasy to pine for, and we all love a good action comedy to give us thrills with our laughs. As wonderful as those are, nothing comes close to a pair of codependent best friends who are young enough to be acting a fool and simultaneously too old for it.

That’s the pair on display in One of Them Days. The creative team behind the hit series Insecure, including writer Syreeta Singleton and producer Issa Rae, brings a very similar brand of character to the big screen. Dreux and Alyssa, played by SZA and Keke Palmer, are roommates facing a big problem. Their hard-earned rent money has been taken by Dreux’s boyfriend, who is on the run and nowhere to be found. With only nine hours until they’re on the streets, their very lives may hang in the balance.

Their journey puts them face to face with villains, mysterious robbers, and seemingly mystical vagrants, turning the streets of LA into a fictitious landscape that defies explanation. It’s not quite fantastical, but One of Them Days has the kind of reckless disregard for realism that makes the appearance of the supernatural feel not entirely out of the question.

The world of the film is constantly surprising, with Palmer and SZA providing a pairing with great chemistry. Keke is no stranger to comedy, but SZA’s debut feature film role is a pleasant surprise. The back-and-forth bickering and their roles as each other’s hype woman ground the film’s more surreal elements, keeping you engaged with the characters caught up in this predicament.

Of the jokes, there are many, and for each one that flops, there are about two more that land to take its place. One of Them Days feels like a throwback to an era when there would be 10 comedies just like it. Though laden with nostalgia, it feels refreshing, finding a way to weave together its silliest elements and characters into something that feels both topical and familiar.

It’s an absurd comedy that takes relatable characters on a not-so-relatable journey. Watching Alyssa and Dreux make one bad decision after another is thoroughly entertaining, starting with likely scenarios and quickly spiralling into the kind of indescribable afternoon that can only be described as “One of them days”.

Rating: Big Screen Watch

Damian Levy is a film critic and podcaster for Damian Michael Movies.