Hollywood hasn’t been shy over the years of highlighting one element of living in certain parts of Los Angeles – gang culture. Everything from Boyz n the Hood, Training Day, End of Watch to Colors. They are gritty stories of nothing but a war on the streets of LA, full of drug deals gone bad and bullets flying.

This buddy comedy then makes a refreshing change, featuring as it does a day in the life of two young black women living in an LA neighbourhood, who suddenly find themselves with a sudden deadline that they have to meet.

Just finishing a nightshift working at a restaurant is Dreux (Keke Palmer). She gets picked up by her roommate Alyssa (SZA), who drives them back to their apartment in the Baldwin Village neighbourhood, AKA the Jungles.

Dreux wants to get a few hours sleep before she has a big interview to manage a franchise of the restaurant she works at. She gets disturbed fairly early on however, as their landlord comes a knocking, demanding the rent as it’s the first of the month. Dreux insists that Alyssa has paid it, but he’s adamant she hasn’t. So much so that if he doesn’t get it by 6pm, they’re out on the street.

Sensing something’s not right, Dreux talks to Alyssa, who says it must be a mistake, as she gave the rent to her boyfriend Keshawn (Joshua David Neal) to give to the landlord. And then the penny drops for both of them, especially with Keshawn making a swift exit.

They now have nine hours to find $1500, or they’ll be officially homeless.

This is an entertaining debut for a number of those involved: it’s a directorial debut for music director Lawrence Lamont; a debut screenplay for Syreeta Singleton; and an acting debut for artist SZA (AKA Solána Imani Rowe).

It’s a simple enough premise, one that has been seen many times before, with protagonists having a looming deadline in which to come up with enough cash to keep them out of trouble.

Thankfully the generic plot is elevated by the relationship between Palmer and SZA’s characters, who are besties that soon find their friendship tested throughout the day. The two have a wonderful on-screen chemistry, which somehow papers over the cracks of the thinly-veiled plot, with their bold personalities supporting it throughout.

Singleton’s script is lively and upbeat, with some fun, unexpected set pieces, that Lamont does well bringing to life on screen. You do get the impression that it could have been pushed a little harder on the comedy front, especially with such enigmatic characters, but you can forgive Singleton being that it’s her first feature script.

It’s a wild and wacky adventure, that creates an on screen buddy duo that is so entertaining, you could see them working well together again, either in a sequel, or some other project, which is impressive considering this is SZA’s first film.

It’s also refreshing to see an LA neighbourhood that isn’t full of car chases, police sirens, and shots fired, focusing as it does on two working class women just trying to make a buck to keep a roof over their head, that doesn’t result in them selling drugs or taking on sex work.

One of Them Days is a fun and frothy take on a buddy flick, where we get to hang out in LA with two charismatic young women from the ‘hood, unusually so, and you just couldn’t find better company to spend the day with.