Bold statement: Black women deserve their own thriving buddy comedy canon, not just a sparse handful of outliers. And this is where the conversation gets interesting: the genre has long underrepresented Black women leads, especially in duo-centric stories, even as similar formats for other groups have proliferated. Here’s a fresh, clearer take on the landscape, why it matters, and what’s happening now to change the tides.
When you search for Black women buddy comedies, the results are disappointingly slim. Classic titles like 1997’s B.A.P.S. and 2017’s Girls Trip stand out, with Waiting to Exhale often misfiled as a romantic drama rather than a buddy comedy. Compared with the steady stream of male buddy comedies or white women-led buddy comedies of the same era, Black women-centric options feel disproportionately sparse. That gap isn’t just about numbers; it signals a gap in opportunity, representation, and recognition within mainstream cinema.
Enter a hopeful development: a new buddy comedy led by Keke Palmer and SZA aimed at broadening this missing chapter. One Of Them Days, written by Syreeta Singleton (the showrunner of Rap Sh!t) and directed by Lawrence Lamont, is positioned as the first Black-women-led buddy comedy released in nearly eight years and the first duo-centric Black women buddy comedy in almost three decades. The film reunites Palmer and SZA after their acclaimed 2022 Saturday Night Live moment and features a recognizable supporting cast, including Katt Williams, Lil Rel Howery, Maude Apatow, Janelle James, Vanessa Bell Calloway, and Keyla Monterroso Mejia.
Set in South Los Angeles, the story follows two broke best friends and roommates, Dreux (Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA, in her acting debut), who must conjure up $1,500 by day’s end to avoid eviction after Alyssa’s freeloading boyfriend depletes their rent money. In the scramble, they juggle a series of chaotic, laugh-out-loud schemes—aimed at securing quick cash and helping Dreux land a better job interview—that culminate in a wild ride of misadventures and missteps.
From a plot perspective, One Of Them Days adheres to the familiar rhythm of buddy comedies: ridiculous schemes, escalating stakes, and a frenetic pace that sustains humor. Yet it also carves out a semi-heartening arc centered on the strength of friendship between two women who support one another as they pursue personal and professional growth. Dreux embodies a pragmatic ambition to transcend routine service work, while Alyssa represents a free-spirited pursuit of her dream to be a full-time painter. Their dynamic blends bite and warmth, offering both comic bite and a heartfelt current.
There’s a distinctive nostalgic thread, as director Lamont notes there wasn’t a direct predecessor to anchor the film’s vibe, though nods to the Friday franchise and other Black ’90s favorites appear in the mix. The legacy lines up with the lineage from B.A.P.S. (Georgia homegirls Georgia and Nikki) through Girls Trip’s four-wriend ensemble, highlighting how Black women’s humor and camaraderie have historically lived in subtext or in star power rather than in a sustained duo-led entry.
Historically, the landscape for Black women’s buddy comedies has been a zigzag path. B.A.P.S. introduced the world to a two-woman buddy dynamic in a high-spirited caper, albeit met with mixed critical reception and later cult status. Two decades later, Girls Trip demonstrated that a high-grossing, star-powered buddy comedy centered on Black women could resonate with broad audiences and critics alike, even spawning talk of a sequel. Its commercial impact showed there was real appetite for Black women-led humor on the big screen.
Even so, the field remains underrepresented. Comedy—especially the buddy format—has historically undergiven Black women the same screen-time and centrality allotted to other groups. Yet, there is something undeniable about how humor functions within Black womanhood: it reflects resilience, community, and the daily ways we navigate hardship together. This reality invites a more vibrant, varied, and frequent slate of films that center Black women as leads in funny, relatable stories.
The early response to One Of Them Days suggests a promising shift. Pre-release chatter highlighted Palmer and SZA as a dynamic duo capable of carrying a major comedy, and early reviews praised the film’s energy and chemistry. Social-media chatter and memes around the trailer reinforced that audiences are hungry for a fresh Black women buddy movie moment. Importantly, the project isn’t a one-off: a sequel is already in development, signaling a potential new rhythm for Black women-centered comedies moving forward.
What’s at stake here isn’t just nostalgia. It’s about diversifying the archetypes and narratives available to audiences, and ensuring Black women have a steady stream of opportunities to lead or star in comedy with breadth and depth. As Issa Rae has emphasized in interviews, there’s symbolic and practical value in demonstrating that Black audiences will support and engage with these stories, which in turn encourages studios to greenlight more projects in this space.
One Of Them Days is currently streaming on Netflix, and its trajectory could shape the next era of Black women buddy comedies. If audiences continue to respond positively—and if studios recognize the lasting demand—this could mark the start of a sustained, flourishing chapter for the genre rather than a one-time rally. The core message is clear: Black women belong at the center of big, funny, heartwarming stories, and there’s ample room to grow, experiment, and expand the canon.
Would you like this piece to lean more toward a formal industry analysis, or keep a more pop-culture, reader-friendly voice with broader audience engagement questions at the end? Also, should I add specific box-office figures or critical quotes to bolster the case for broader support of Black women buddy comedies?
