Keke Palmer’s new comedyOne of Them Dayshas broken a Rotten Tomatoes record. The movie, which was produced byInsecure’s Issa Rae, was directed by Lawrence Lamont (who previously collaborated with Rae on Max’sRap Sh!t) from the debut screenplay by Syreeta Singleton (who was the showrunner ofRap Sh!t). It co-stars Palmer and singer-songwriter SZA as best friends Dreux and Alyssa alongside an ensemble cast that includes Vanessa Bell Calloway, Maude Apatow, Katt Williams, Dewayne Perkins, Lil Rel Howery, and Janelle James.
The newKeke Palmer movieis the latest in a string of prominent projects for the actor, who kicked off her career in the mid 2000s and first rose to prominence when she starred opposite Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett in 2006’sAkeelah and the Bee. She parlayed this success as a child actor intoroles in projects such as Disney’sJump In!and Nickelodeon’sTrue Jackson, VP. As an adult, she has starred in a variety of movies and shows, includingScream: The TV Series,Lightyear,Scream Queens, and Netflix’sHuman Resources.
One Of Them Days Ending Explained: Where Do Dreux And Alyssa End Up?
One of Them Days is an extremely solid comedy, with an ending that, while not too complex, has enough going on that is worth discussing in depth.
One Of Them Days Is Officially Keke Palmer’s Highest Rated Movie On Rotten Tomatoes
It Beats A Record That Has Been Held For 11 Years
At the time of writing, Rotten Tomatoes has aggregated 52 differentOne of Them Daysreviews, which has given the moviea near-perfect Tomatometer score of 97%. In fact, among the 19 Top Critics that have submitted reviews, the movie does have a full 100% score. This 97% score, which comes along with a nearly matching 95% Popcornmeter score from audience members, means that the 2025 comedy movie is officially Keke Palmer’s highest-rated movie of all time on the Tomatometer.
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes have givenOne of Them Daysan average score of 7.0 out of 10.
Her previous highest-scoring movies were tied at 92%, a full five percentage points lower than the current Rotten Tomatoes score ofOne of Them Days. Those titles were the 2014 Netflix DramaImperial Dreams, in which she starred opposite John Boyega and Rotimi Akinosho, and the 2016 musical telecastGrease: Live!, in which she played Pink Ladies member Martina “Marty” Maraschino opposite Aaron Tveit as Danny Zuko and Julianne Hough as Sandy Young.
Keke Palmer’s New Rotten Tomatoes Record Is More Impressive After Nope & Hustlers
Both Movies Were Well-Regarded During Their Releases
The critical success of theOne of Them Daysreleaseis even more impressive considering the fact that Keke Palmer has starred in two recent movies that were critical darlings. Those would be Jordan Peele’s 2022 sci-fi horror featureNope, for which Palmer won a New York Film Critics Circle Award, and Lorene Scafaria’s 2019 crime dramedyHustlers, which earned star Jennifer Lopez a Golden Globe nomination. However, in spite of their glowing reception,they only earned 83% and 88% Rotten Tomatoes scores respectively.
How One Of Them Days Compares To Keke Palmer’s Highest-Rated Movies
It Stands Out In Multiple Ways
On Rotten Tomatoes, Keke Palmer only has 10 movies that have been deemed Fresh out of 20 movies that have received official scores, meaning thatexactly 50% of her output has been generally well-regarded by critics. Of these titles,One of Them Daysis the only one that is primarily a comedy, though she played comic roles in titles such asNopeand the Pixar adventure movieLightyear. It is also so far her lowest-grossing movie with a Fresh score, as every wide release other thanAkeelah and the Bee(which earned $19 million) has grossed more than $100 million.
AlthoughAkeelah and the Beewas not a runaway blockbuster hit, it was nominated for five NAACP Image Awards, winning two, for writer-director Doug Atchison’s screenplay and for Keke Palmer.
However,One of Them Days' ongoing opening weekend is projected to gross roughly $15 million, which means that the movie has already made back its budget and will likely climb much higher than the gross ofAkeelah, though hitting the $100 million milestone still seems outside of its capabilities.Its slim budget also sees it compare favorably to the performances of those previous titles, as they had much higher budgets.
In fact, theLightyearbox officewas hampered by its $200 million price tag. Even though the movie is the highest-grossing of the bunch, it was a theatrical failure becauseit only earned $226.4 million in spite of its budget likely placing its break-even point somewhere around $500 million. Below, see a breakdown of the critical and commercial reception of Keke Palmer’s highest-rated movies:
97%
$14 million
$14 million+
92%
88%
$20.7 million
$157.6 million
Akeelah and the Bee(2006)
86%
~$8 million
$19 million
83%
$68 million
$171.1 million
75%
74%
$200 million
$226.4 million
63%
60%
N/A
The relative performance of her Top 10 movies does not necessarily mean that another comedy would achieve the critical and commercial success ofOne of Them Days. However,she does have a few comedies in developmentthat could prove once and for all if the genre is her lucky charm.
What Is Next For Keke Palmer After One Of Them Days
She Has Many Irons In The Fire
Keke Palmer has quite a few projects coming afterOne of Them Days, which occupy a wide variety of genres and mediums. The one that is set to debut soonest is the body swap comedyGood Fortune,the directorial debut ofParks and RecreationandMaster of Nonestar Aziz Ansari, which is set to be released on October 27. She was previously set to appear in Ansari’s movieBeing Mortal, but production was paused in 2022 amid sexual assault allegations against co-star Bill Murray, though it may eventually come to the screen in a different form afterGood Fortune.
Good Fortunealso stars Ansari, Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, and Sandra Oh.
Throughout 2024, a number of other upcoming Keke Palmer projects were announced, includinga Peacock series remake of the Joe Dante dark comedyThe ‘Burbs, the Boots Riley crime movieI Love Boosters(opposite Demi Moore, Naomi Ackie, and LaKeith Stanfield), and the CIA action thrillerGods Unknown. It is unknown if these projects will interfere with other titles announced in 2023, including David O. Russell’s dramaSuper Toysand the Kevin Hart rom-comThe Backup.
[Keke Palmer is] part of Whoopi Goldberg’s ideal cast for the sequel Sister Act 3…
Additionally, Palmer will be appearing opposite Eddie Murphy in the heist comedyThe Pickupin addition to being part of Whoopi Goldberg’s ideal cast for thesequelSister Act 3, which is in development though it has been slow to come to fruition. In addition to Palmer, Goldberg says she wants the movie to feature Nicki Minaj and Lizzo, thoughcontracts have seemingly not been signed for the project. Any number of these titles could compete withOne of Them Days, though considering how long it took the star to get just one 97% score, they may fall short.
One of Them Days
One of Them Days, directed by Lawrence Lamont, follows best friends and roommates Dreux and Alyssa as they scramble to prevent eviction after discovering Alyssa’s boyfriend has squandered their rent money. This comedic adventure highlights their desperate and humorous attempts to save their home and friendship.
