# One of Them Days

One of Them Days is a 2025 American buddy tragicomedy film directed by Lawrence Lamont and written by Syreeta Singleton. The film stars Keke Palmer, SZA, and Katt Williams. Its plot follows two friends who must scramble to find rent money after one of their boyfriends blows through it.
One of Them Days was released in the United States and Canada by Sony Pictures Releasing on January 17, 2025. The film received critical acclaim and has grossed over $50 million.

## Plot

Waitress Dreux Jones and aspiring artist Alyssa live together along with Alyssa's boyfriend Keshawn in a rundown apartment complex under a strict landlord. When the first of the month arrives, their landlord demands their rent money of $1,500, stating that they will be evicted unless they pay by 6 PM, even though both Dreux and Alyssa thought it was already paid.
After much confusion between the women, both deduce that Keshawn must have taken the money and run away with it after they cannot find him. They track him down at the home of Berniece, a woman he has been cheating with. A confrontation ensues, in which Keshawn admits to using the money to invest in his T-shirt company, and Berniece gets knocked down by a truck door, vowing revenge.
Dreux and Alyssa, now penniless and without a car, go to a loan bank, but get rejected due to low credit scores. They then find themselves at a blood donation center. Dreux attempts to give as much blood as she possibly can to make the most money, but gets woozy whilst doing so. When Alyssa discovers this, she gets into an altercation with the inexperienced nurse, during which they lose all the blood donated. Defeated, they go to the fast food restaurant next door, where they run into Maniac, a man Dreux was previously flirting with. After eating, Alyssa leaves the two to themselves, with an idea on how to get the money.
Shortly after, Dreux and Maniac are called to help Alyssa, who is on a utility pole trying to take the pair of Air Jordans that had been left on there. After successfully retrieving them, she gets electrocuted by the wires. They manage to sell the Jordans for $1,500, and Dreux gets to her job interview for the position of franchise manager on time.
During all of this, Berniece and Keshawn have been trying to track down the women, and locate Alyssa waiting for Dreux. Despite being impressed with Dreux's interview, the ensuing fight between the 3 women—during which Berniece beats both of them up and steals the $1,500—leaves her prospective employers with a bad impression, and they become skeptical about giving her the job. While Alyssa and Dreux argue about their predicament, they get a call from the ruthless gangster King Lolo—the man to whom the Jordans belonged—who is angry with them for selling his shoes and tells them they have until 10 PM to give him $5,000 or he will kill them.
Returning to their complex, the women discover that their landlord has gone through with evicting them, and all their belongings have been thrown to the curb. They run into perky new neighbor Bethany, who offers to buy one of Alyssa's paintings. After seeing her large following on social media, they throw and advertise an impromptu art gallery that evening at the apartment complex to raise money to give to King Lolo, which turns out successful. They earn enough money to pay him back, and Dreux's interviewer is one of the attendees, telling her that she is impressed by the event and to expect a call offer for the job.
King Lolo arrives and Alyssa darts off, telling Dreux to stall him because she has a plan to get him off their tail while avoiding paying him their hard-earned money. After shots are fired, the women divert his attention and flee to hide in their empty old apartment, only to discover Keshawn there, who has lit candles in an effort to win Alyssa back. King Lolo arrives, and as he prepares to kill the trio, he slams the door behind him, which causes a piece of the ceiling to fall on his head and knock him out. The candles are knocked over as well, lighting the apartment on fire. The women, Keshawn, and an unconscious King Lolo end up trapped in a room filling with smoke, and Alyssa and Dreux reconcile. Firefighters arrive and break through the doors to rescue them, one of whom is revealed to be Maniac. As Maniac and Dreux talk about starting a relationship, King Lolo gets arrested for not paying back his delinquent loans thanks to Alyssa tipping off the loan bank. Alyssa finally cuts ties with Keshawn, and the women re-solidify their friendship.
Dreux is later shown to be a successful franchise manager and Alyssa becomes a renowned painter. The two live together in their newly refurbished apartment.

## Cast

* Keke Palmer as Dreux
* SZA as Alyssa
* Vanessa Bell Calloway as Mama Ruth
* Lil Rel Howery as The Buyer
* Katt Williams as Lucky
* Maude Apatow as Bethany
* Patrick Cage as Maniac
* Gabrielle Dennis as Shayla
* Janelle James as Ruby
* Amin Joseph as King Lolo
* Keyla Monterroso Mejia as Kathy
* Joshua Neal as Keshawn
* Dewayne Perkins as Jameel
* Aziza Scott as Berniece
* Rizi Timane as Uche
* DomiNque Perry as Shameeka
* Dustin Ybarra as Joseph
* Ray Santiago as Fabian

## Production

In April 2024, it was announced that Keke Palmer and SZA had been cast in main roles. In July that same year, it was announced that several other actors, including Lil Rel Howery and Maude Apatow, had also been cast in the film. In August that same year, it was announced that Perkins, Joseph, Dennis and Perry had been cast in the film. The film cost $14 million to produce.

## Release

The film was released on January 17, 2025. It was originally set for January 24. The film's Los Angeles premiere on January 13 was cancelled due to the Palisades Fire.

## Reception
### Box office

In the United States and Canada, One of Them Days was released alongside Wolf Man and was projected to gross $8–13 million from 2,402 theaters in its opening four-day MLK weekend. Variety said the wildfires in Los Angeles would not affect its box office performance. The first theatrical R-rated female Black comedy since Girls Trip (2017), the film made $4.5 million on its first day (including an estimated $1.3 million from Thursday night previews). It debuted to $11.8 million in its opening weekend (and a total of $14 million over the four-day frame), finishing second behind holdover Mufasa: The Lion King (in its fifth weekend) and upsetting Wolf Man. Deadline Hollywood suggested that the opening could have been higher given the film's positive reception from critics and audiences, blaming Sony's marketing as the film had made 116.6 million impressions across social media platforms, while Girls Trip made 71 million impressions but opened to $31.2 million in 2017. One of Them Days grossed $8 million in its second weekend, $5.9 million in its third, and $2.9 million in its fourth. It dropped out of the box office top ten in its eighth weekend.

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 100 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's consensus reads: "Dishing out enough laughter and chemistry to spare through Keke Palmer and SZA, One of Them Days makes the buddy-comedy genre feel like magic once again." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 71 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it an 84% overall positive score, with 63% saying they would "definitely recommend" it.