“One of Them Days,” starring Keke Palmer and SZA, is an outrageously funny film about two broke friends trying to make enough money to keep their apartment. The film takes place in Los Angeles and features a cast of prominent actors and comedians such as Katt Williams, Lil Rel Howery, Maude Apatow, and Janelle James. Issa Rae, known for her HBO television series “Insecure,” produced the film. “One of Them Days” is the first Black female-led theatrical comedy to debut since “Girl’s Trip” which was released in 2017. It has earned $11.6 million in theaters and many fans along the way.

Director Lawrence Lamont grew up in Detroit and graduated from Southfield High School. He moved to California to pursue his filmmaking career and went on to collaborate with famous rappers like Big Sean and J. Cole. “One of Them Days” is his directorial debut.

During a press tour at downtown Detroit’s Shinola Hotel, Lamont said, “The economy is crazy; inflation is crazy. Everyone has had one of those days. The first of every month, people are stressed out. But somehow human beings have been able to laugh at pain, and laughter has become healing. I like to make sure that the heart is there.”

Keke Palmer plays Dreux, a struggling waitress looking to change jobs and SZA is Alyssa, an artist with a boyfriend named Keshawn. He takes their rent money and spends it on a cheap clothing line instead of giving it to their landlord. The roommates are given nine hours to pay their rent or they’ll be tossed along with their furniture onto the streets. Their desperation takes them to some odd places. One hilarious scene involves climbing up a utility pole with a broom to knock down a pair of retro Jordans because they’re worth a lot of money.

I enjoyed the movie particularly because it brought out the humor of being a broke 20-something year old. I related to their struggles while laughing at the moments that felt absolutely insane. At my local theater, many people were laughing at these scenes and it brought us together as we could identify with many of the moments in “One of Them Days.”

Producer Issa Rae believes there is a lot of pressure for the movie to perform better than expected, saying, “There is a pressure for it to be successful so that studios and the industry can always do that thing where it’s like, ‘Oh, Black people wanna see this. Oh, women are coming to movies.’ We need to make more of this. This is just a good, fun, funny time. And we want people to be able to go bring their friends, bring your man, whoever, to the theater and just laugh out loud. It means a lot that this is in theaters because this doesn’t happen for us often.”

“One of Them Days” is now playing exclusively in movie theaters.