This week, 24 years ago, the film Friday was released. It would go on to be a hit and a Black cult classic.

It was one of the first films for Director F. Gary Gray, who has gone on to have a storied career, directing films like Set it Off, Straight Outta Compton and the upcoming movie Men In Black: International.

The film had a cast full of prominent Black Hollywood figures, like Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, Bernie Mac, Anna Maria Horsford, Regina King, and John Witherspoon.

Writing about iconic Black films for S&A, our Aramide Tinubu wrote: “F. Gary Gray’s feature film debut from the script written by Ice Cube was destined to be a classic. Fresh off his performance in Boyz n the Hood, Cube was clearly ready to write his own stories. The film’s premise is simple: Craig (Ice Cube) is fired on his day off, and we watch what happens in the aftermath of the fallout. Joined by his homeboy Smokey (Chris Tucker), the men decide to get high and get into more shenanigans. The characters in Friday are what makes it so iconic. From Mrs. Parker to Felicia and obviously the late Bernie Mac’s Pastor Clever, the lines in the flicks are endlessly quotable.”

Here are 4 of the most classic scenes from Friday:

Craig and his dad have an…awkward conversation (sidenote: give John Witherspoon all of his flowers now):

Twinny Twin Twin, one of the most notable scenes in Black cinema. Don’t debate us.

The legendary Debo scene:

And of course, we can’t forget about “Bye Felicia,” which in the past few years somehow became a literal pop culture phenomenon:

READ MORE:

18 Unforgettable Films to Watch During Black History Month

Photo: New Line

F. Gary Grey

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