The vitals:
7:00 ~ Doors
7:30 ~ Black Is Not a Genre: ONE OF THEM DAYS

A staple of American cinema, the buddy comedy has launched Black Hollywood’s biggest male stars. Unsurprisingly, it’s a genre that has all but ignored Black women. Ensemble films aside, the only mainstream precedent for the Issa Rae-produced ONE OF THESE DAYS is Robert Townsend’s B*A*P*S, a film that turns thirty next year. Fortunately, the latter is a clear reference point for “Insecure” writer Syreeta Singleton and music video director Lawrence Lamont. Much like Halle Berry and the late Natalie Desselle, Keke Palmer and SZA have the kind of natural bestie chemistry that’s only possible with a script that understands the dynamic bonds between girlfriends and what makes them funny.

The other obvious reference is F. Gary Gray’s seminal one-day odyssey FRIDAY, to whom the film’s setup pays generous homage. Best friends and roomies Dreux (Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA) are in a race against time to get back the rent money Alyssa’s barnacle of a boyfriend secretly ‘reinvested’ in his t-shirt business. Slapstick obstacles and scene-stealing cameos (Katt Williams, Janelle James, Lil Rel Howery) ensue as the duo’s quest to avoid eviction wryly reveals the daily social annoyances endured by young black women everywhere—predatory economics, gentrification (personified by Caucasian-comedy heiress Maude Apatow), employer bias, and an f-boy culture that perpetually pits fellow queens against one another.

None of this would work without its marquee lead. Keke Palmer is a comedic supernova—a timeless talent with Dandridge’s charisma and Ball’s screwball instincts. It’s a joy to watch her work.

-Graham Cumberbatch

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