“One of Them Days,” a film directed by Lawrence Lamont, was released on Jan. 17 for a limited time in theaters. The movie stars singer-songwriter SZA and singer-actress Keke Palmer in a comedic female friendship story.
Dreux Jones (Keke Palmer) and roommate Alyssa (SZA) live together in a rundown apartment complex with Alyssa’s boyfriend. After they get confronted by their landlord to pay the rent, they realize, in a haze of confusion, that Alyssa’s boyfriend has run away with their rent money. They find out he has gone to the home of a woman he has been cheating on Alyssa with and taken the money to start his own T-shirt company.
Now on a hunt for money to pay for their rent, Dreux and Alyssa go through a series of unfortunate events that leave them frenzied and almost hopeless. From a failed loan attempt to retrieving a pair of Jordans from an electrical wire, the girls go through trials and tribulations to avoid eviction.
The film was nothing groundbreaking, but overall a very classic modern comedy. It was refreshing to see a comedy with female leads in the mix of movie previews. SZA and Palmer have a lot of chemistry on screen, like in their scenes in the car where their banter played really well off each other. It was the first time SZA acted in a film like this, and I think she did an incredible job. She has a very strong personality which makes her exciting to watch on screen, and her character exhibiting similar traits makes the acting feel seamless and natural.
The film also had an excellent soundtrack, featuring many popular Black female rap and R&B artists including Palmer herself, Flo Milli, Doechii and more. The inclusion of these artists not only fit well with the vibe of the film but also some of the moral lessons the film includes on the struggles and success of Black women.
“One of Them Days” takes a strong moral stance on financial instability. The film depicts the lengths people go to just to get their rent in on time when they are down on their luck. Furthermore, it points out the struggle of living as a Black woman in a city with a high number of unhoused residents, a majority of whom are also Black due to many systematic factors, like high eviction rates and gentrification.
I do, however, think that the moral message of the film gets overshadowed by the comedy of it all. The overall theme of highlighting the importance of female friendship tops all other points the film makes, as it is clear that the movie centers around the two female leads and their journey to a better life. I would definitely pay to see SZA and Palmer together on screen again, as it was a delightful watch.
4/5 stars
oparisi@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @oneofthemdaysmovie, Instagram
