Film
First Sunday
A comedy about two small-time criminals who plan to rob a church to pay off a debt, only to find themselves confronting faith, friendship, and redemption through the night. It's warm-hearted chaos with heart underneath—a film that genuinely wants you to believe people can change, delivered through comedy and character rather than preaching.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like broad, scrappy comedy where two hapless crooks keep digging deeper and the jokes come from character more than plot mechanics, the way Friday-era Ice Cube buddy pictures do.
Skip it if you want sharp, restrained humor, since this one leans on loud physical gags, mugging and a churchy sentimentality that can feel forced once the laughs thin out.
What it asks of you: Under ninety-seven minutes, it moves briskly and asks you to accept big, cartoonish performances and a few sudden tonal swerves without much fuss.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Friday1995
Another Ice Cube comedy with real chemistry between leads, neighborhood specificity, and the ability to be genuinely funny while treating its characters with respect and affection.
But The humor is heavily dependent on 90s rap and street culture reference points that don't land the same way now, and some dated attitudes creep in.

Uncle 'Bar' at Barbershop2000
Ensemble comedy set in a neighborhood institution where people show up with real problems and leave changed. Balances humor with unexpected depth about community and legacy.
But The film jumps between multiple storylines, which can feel scattered, and some plots resolve better than others.

The Wood1999
Three friends dealing with actual stakes—relationship trouble, career pressure, self-doubt—while genuinely making you laugh. Serious about what it's examining without losing the comedy.
But The framing device feels a bit dated now, and the film shuffles between past and present in ways that occasionally confuse the rhythm.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from First Sunday
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Coming to America1988
Both are comedies built on the premise of outsiders finding unexpected grace and family in a community they don't belong to, and both trust warmth over cynicism.
Eddie Murphy as a prince faking his way through regular life to find love and meaning, disguised as a comedy but actually about identity and belonging. The DNA is completely different but the soul is adjacent—both films believe in redemption and transformation through community.
But It's extremely 80s in its sensibility and some of the cultural humor has aged awkwardly.

More like this (7)
Ride Along2014
Ice Cube and Kevin Hart as mismatched partners in a buddy cop comedy with real affection between them. It's light, propulsive, and genuinely charming about unlikely friendship.
But The plot is very standard cop-movie stuff and there's not much surprise in where it goes.

House Party 21991
Another film about young men trying to pull off an impossible plan in one night, with music, humor, and a surprising amount of heart about what friendship actually means.
But The comedy is very 90s and the pacing drags in the middle section.

Trading Places1983
A heist comedy where ordinary people with nothing come up with an insane scheme to rob the system. The chemistry and escalating chaos are genuinely delightful.
But The tone whips around between comedy and genuine menace in ways that don't always cohere, and it can feel like it's trying too hard to be clever.

National Security2003
Action-comedy buddy film where two mismatched guys have to work together. It's silly but committed to its own absurdity and the performers clearly enjoy each other.
But It's genuinely dumb in ways that don't always compensate, and the plot is pretty forgettable.

Norbit2007
An action-comedy that wears its heart on its sleeve about friendship, loyalty, and standing up for the people you love, all wrapped in an intentionally ridiculous package.
But It's aggressively silly and the multiple-role performances can be grating rather than charming.

Moonlight2016
Both believe that transformation happens through connection and vulnerability, not through individual effort. Both center Black masculinity with real tenderness.
A film about a young Black man's life across three moments, shaped by love, friendship, and the weight of survival. It's quiet where First Sunday is loud, but it shares an unflinching commitment to showing how people actually change each other.
But It's slow, meditative, and occasionally abstract—nothing like a comedy, and demands patience with ambiguity.

The Poseidon Adventure1972
Both films trap their characters in a single location overnight where they must confront what they believe and who they are beneath the surface, emerging changed.
A disaster film where a group of mismatched people get trapped together and have to rely on each other to survive, finding unexpected faith and redemption in the process. Pure spectacle that actually earns its emotional moments.
But It's a 1970s disaster film—the pacing is slow, the effects are dated, and it asks you to care about people being saved from a sinking ship.

People
Cast
Ice CubeDurell
Katt WilliamsRickey
Tracy MorganLeeJohn
Loretta DevineSister Doris
Michael BeachDeacon
Keith DavidJudge B. Bennet Galloway
Regina HallOmunique
Malinda WilliamsTianna
Chi McBridePastor Arthur Mitchell
Clifton PowellOfficer Eddie King
Nicholas TurturroOfficer D'Agostino- Paul CampbellBlahka
Directing
- David E. TalbertDirector
- Basti Van Der WoudeSecond Assistant Director
Writing
- David E. TalbertWriter
Production
- Kim Taylor-ColemanCasting
- Kimberly HardinCasting
- David E. TalbertProducer
- Ice CubeProducer
- Matt AlvarezProducer
- Tim StoryProducer