‘One Of Them Days’ is a much needed comedy for black women

When you Google “Black women buddy comedies,” the search engine’s What to Watch section returns only a handful of results. There’s 1997’s “BAPS,” 2017’s “Girls Trip” (which stars an ensemble of four) and, surprisingly, 1995’s “Waiting to Exhale” (a quartet-led film that should technically be considered a romantic drama). Beyond that, there are virtually no other examples to stack against the dozens of male buddy comedies or even the female buddy comedies starring white women released in the 21st century alone.

From “Baby Mama” and “Bridesmaids” to “The Heat” and “Booksmart,” the list of movies with funny female duos and other variations is longer than that, especially for black women.

However, a new buddy comedy starring Keke Palmer and SZA is looking to change that.

“One of these days” — written by “Rap Sh!t” showrunner Syreeta Singleton and directed by Lawrence Lamont — is the first black female-led buddy comedy released in nearly eight years (and the first with a duo in nearly three decades). It reunites Palmer and SZA after their acclaimed “Saturday Night Live” performance in 2022 and features a host of familiar faces and comedians, including Katt Williams, Lil Rel Howery, Maude Apatow, Janelle James, Vanessa Bell Calloway and Keyla Monterroso Mejia.

The South Los Angeles film, co-produced by Issa Rae, follows a crazy day in the life of two heartbroken besties/roommates Dreux (Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA, in her acting debut) as they race against the eviction clock after the latter’s free-spirited boyfriend ( Joshua Neal) blowing all their rent money. Tasked with conjuring up $1,500 by the end of the day—and helping Dreux ace a life-changing corporate job interview—the pair’s quick cash hunt results in a ridiculous set of adventures that make for exhilarating laugh-out-loud fun.

In usual buddy-comedy fashion, the chaotic plot of “One Of Them Days” is filled with hilarious hijinks, all thanks to Alyssa and Dreux’s doomed money schemes – from a messy blood bank blunder and power-line sales sneaker to a last resort attempt to borrow funds from the local payday loan spot.

The campy comedy also carves out a semi-encouraging arc that focuses on the two women’s ride-or-die friendship and the challenges they struggle to overcome, both as a couple and as individuals. While Dreux’s no-nonsense attitude leads her to aspire to be more than a low-wage waitress, free-spirited Alyssa struggles to break out of her manifestation bubble to turn her full-time painting dreams into a fully realized reality.

There’s a special charm to “One Of Them Days,” finally reviving Black Women Buddy Comedy for audiences starved of one for nearly 30 years, a fact Rae pointed out in a recent interview with Deco Drive.

“We haven’t seen black female comedies since ‘B*A*P*S’ and even ‘Girls Trip,'” she noted, “but specifically buddy comedy where it’s a duo.”

That would explain the fans’ excitement – Black Twitter specifically – when the “One Of Them Days” trailer debuted last fall. Not only because it stars the beloved multi-hyphenate Palmer, Grammy-winning singer SZA and other Hollywood favorites, but also because it marks one of the very few times two black women are front and center in a high-profile buddy comedy.

To truly understand that significance, one need only look at our brief history in the subgenre.

In 1997, filmmaker Robert Townsend introduced the idea of ​​two black actresses playing a buddy comedy when he cast Halle Berry and the late Natalie Desselle-Reid as Georgia homegirls Nisi and Mickey, respectively, in “BAPS” (short for Black American Princesses). The film sees the eccentric Southern duo fly to Los Angeles in hopes of landing a long-running music video audition, only to find themselves tricked into swindling a wealthy dying millionaire out of $10,000 plus room and board in his fancy Beverly Hills mansion.

The silly rags-to-riches story, albeit absurd in theory, was ahead of its timeper less than stellar reviews from film critics. It showed a series of black women’s experiences, both joyful and fun, but also hard and full of hardships, in a comic scenario (with a happy-ever-after, no less), which was not appreciated when it was first released. Yet the endearing comedy became a cult classic years later for audiences who recognized the niche space it created for black women that hadn’t existed in comedic films before.

Much of that is attributed to Berry and Desselle’s undeniable synergy as a comedy duo whose impact is still inspiring today.

“One Of Them Days” director Lamont mentioned in a interview with Macro that there was “no real reference” to his film — though it still nods to the “Friday” series and other black ’90s classics — but Townsend’s “BAPS” “was the closest.”

“It (film) made me think of the times I saw black women in prominent roles, how it made me feel,” he added.

It’s not the only one that gave funny black women the buddy comedy spotlight.

The other example of black women prominent in that film canon is “Girls Trip,” which arrived 20 years after “BAPS” tried to make its mark. The Malcolm D. Lee-directed film upped the ante this time with a college foursome—affectionately nicknamed the Flossy Posse—reuniting at the Essence Festival (black women’s annual summer pilgrimage to New Orleans) to rekindle their longtime bond.

Unlike its predecessor, the raunchy R-rated film made a massive splash upon release with numerous rave reviews praise it heartwarming message on black sisterhood and female-driven comedy. Maybe because it depicted black women’s experiences more realistically (or accepting) than “BAPS”. Nevertheless, “Girls Trip” picked up the torch and filled in gaps Hollywood seemed disinterested in addressing until then.

The market for mainstream black comedies had not been very robust in the early decades or the 2010s, especially those good enough to garner critical acclaim. Black women’s buddy comedies weren’t even on the radar. However, register ticket numbers proved that “Girls Trip” was an outlier and a necessary offering that could open more doors for the genre.

Much of that, of course, had to do with the pairing of Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Tiffany Haddish, and Regina Hall, the latter two best known for their comedic chops, and a hysterical script written by Tracy Oliver and Kenya Barris. Together, this formula made a comedic cultural story that put “Girls Trip” in the same conversation as smash hits like “The Hangover” and “Bridesmaids.” It even paved the way for one upcoming sequel (although there is still no release date).

It also offered a glimmer of hope that black women’s comedies could see the light of day again, even if a year-long hiatus followed. Its commercial success alone is a testament to the audience’s appetite for the subgenre. That’s why Rae, Lamont, Singleton and the producers of “One Of Them Days” saw fit to bring another hilarious movie about us to the big screen.

Buddy comedies may be silly in nature, but they’re a space black women are more than capable of occupying — Palmer and SZA’s performances are proof. Contrary to what Hollywood reflects, comedy exists in black womanhood, from the privacy of our group chats and breaks to our social media timelines. We thrive and sometimes survive on humor to get us through our greatest hardships, and we lean on each other when we need support the most. Yet it’s hardly reflected in mainstream entertainment, much less in the buddy comedy canon.

However, there is still time to rectify this.

It’s too early to tell if “One Of Them Days” will make more strides than its predecessors and give black women’s comedies staying power in movies. However, its early success is a strong argument for its potential.

In the days leading up to the premiere, “One Of Them Days” served. glowing reviews and one perfect score on Rotten Tomatoesa pleasant surprise for the first major comedy release of the year. Its meme-worthy dialogue and scenes will surely do the rounds on social media when it hits theaters across the cinemas, which hopefully won’t be forgotten by the end of 2025.

With enough support, the next big “One Of Them Days” hit might not have to wait another decade to arrive. The film itself has the potential to usher in a new era of comedic storytelling for black women. It is if it can defy Hollywood’s low expectations for comedies and black female-led productions.

“There’s pressure for it to succeed, so studios and the industry can always do that thing where it’s like, ‘Oh, black people want to see this. Oh, women are coming to movies,'” Rae recently told HuffPost.

Her dream is to see “One Of Them Days” become “a classic referenced with the second canon of our iconic films.”

We can only hope that will be the case one day. Maybe then Hollywood will start validating funny black female duos and give them the movies they deserve.

“One Of Them Days” is now in theaters.