ONE OF THEM DAYS****

There aren't enough genuinely funny, genuinely heartwarming buddy comedies out there, let alone buddy comedies starring black women. So it's a pleasure to report that ONE OF THEM DAYS, directed by Lawrence Lamont and penned by Insecure's Syreeta Singleton, is a really good time. It came out almost a year ago and I am utterly unsurprised that it was such a commercial hit and that it's getting a sequel. I am equally unsurprised that it has been nominated for Independent Spirit awards. 

The film stars Keke Palmer (HUSTLERS) as Dreux, a hard-working fast-food worker applying to become a franchise manager. She lives with her best friend Alyssa, a talented but uncompromising artist played by the musician SZA in her screen debut.  The plot is set in motion when the two girls need to make their rent by 6pm to avoid being evicted, because Alyssa's feckless boyfriend squandered the money.  Added to this, they need to get Dreux to her interview and avoid a local gangster who thinks they nicked his rare kicks. So the movie is set up as a zany caper full of madcap adventures and setbacks and quirky characters. My favourite of these are the loan-shark played by Larry David's Curb nemesis Keyla Monterroso Mejia and the madman standing outside her loan-shop called Lucky. Everything resolves beautifully, as we would expect, thanks partly to a white girl ex machina played with disarming earnestness by Euphoria's Maude Apatow. 

This film has a lot to say about how this economy is screwing over Gen Z - about housing unaffordability, gentrification, unequal opportunities, and the prison system of credit scores.  But it does so with gusto and fun and I really found myself rooting for, and believing in, the female characters. I will definitely be watching the sequel.

ONE OF THEM DAYS has a running time of 97 minutes and is rated R. It was released last winter.