One of Them Days
Written by Syreeta Singleton and produced by her Insecure collaborator Issa Rae, One of Them Days is a breathless, high-energy ride through South Los Angeles. The buddy comedy finds its dynamic duo in Dreux (Keke Palmer), a business school graduate with corporate ambitions but stuck waitressing at a local diner, and her best friend and long-time roommate, Alyssa (SZA), an artist of questionable motivation, lacking both funds and direction. Their precarious situation spirals when Alyssa’s deadbeat boyfriend, Keshawn (Joshua David Neal), swipes their rent money, setting them on a desperate race against time as eviction looms. What begins as a simple hustle quickly escalates into a frantic, unpredictable adventure through the streets.
The film’s depiction of South LA’s last ungentrified pockets is striking – courtyard-style condos painted in a riot of colours mirror the energy of the community itself. The scorching summer heat radiates off the screen, while a countdown intermittently appears, steadily ticking away the seconds as a reminder of the characters’ dwindling time.
Palmer and SZA share an effortless, natural chemistry, though it’s the supporting cast that shine, from Uche (Rizi Timane), their mercenary Nigerian landlord, whose complete lack of sympathy is as exasperating as it is funny, and Bethany (Maude Apatow), their excessively friendly new neighbour – notably the only white person on the block – with a poorly trained, oversized rescue dog and a vague but lucrative career in social media brand management. But the true scene-stealer is Berniece (Aziza Scott), Keshawn’s terrifying new girlfriend. An unstoppable force with killer instincts, she propels the film from buddy comedy to full-blown chase thriller with her unrelenting, near-psychotic determination to track them down. By comparison, the movie’s final villain, the trigger-happy gangster King Lolo (Amin Joseph), feels disappointingly underwhelming.
Where One of Them Days stumbles is in its finer details. Alyssa’s supposedly brilliant artwork looks more like Pinterest-grade decor, making her eventual breakthrough – even among hipster trust-fund types – feel unbelievable. The early situational comedy also leans too heavily on tired tropes that dull the script’s sharper moments.
Yet, despite its missteps, the feature thrives on its richly immersive portrayal of people and place. One of Them Days is a nostalgic, propulsive story that captures both the beauty and vulnerability of a neighbourhood in flux – celebrating the resilience and vibrancy of its community, even as it occasionally falters along the way.
Christina Yang
One of Them Days is released nationwide on 7th March 2025.
Watch the trailer for One of Them Days here:
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