Where to watch One of Them Days
1 1/2 Stars
When best friends and roommates Dreux and Alyssa discover Alyssa’s boyfriend has blown their rent money, the duo finds themselves going to extremes in a race against the clock to avoid eviction and keep their friendship intact.
“One of Them Days” is a modernized, gender-swapped take on “Friday,” aimed at audiences in 2025. Both films share a low-budget, low-brow aesthetic and feature a duo of friends—one responsible and the other a ne’er-do-well—set against the backdrop of economically depressed communities. However, while “Friday” is a good-natured and funny movie that showcases a star-making performance by comedian Chris Tucker, “One of Them Days” tends to be mean-spirited, occasionally amusing, and often downbeat for what is supposedly a comedy.
SZA does not bring the same energy as Chris Tucker, putting Keke Palmer in the difficult position of being both the straight man and the comedic foil.
This film is uneven, with a tone that fluctuates wildly. Are we meant to find humor in the main character’s life being threatened? Or in their struggle with illegal eviction? Or is it funny that their credit score is only slightly higher than their combined IQs? Keke Palmer is a talented performer with the potential for Oscar nominations in the right project. Unfortunately, she is wasting her talents and her audience’s goodwill on mediocre, sitcom-level material like “One of Them Days.”
Directed by: Lawrence Lamont
Written by: Syreeta Singleton
Starring: Keke Palmer, SZA, Vanessa Bell Calloway