Bad Day, a Single Mother's Worst Day as She Tries to Keep a Promise to Her Daughter

Bad Day is a Netflix action comedy about Joy, a single mother trying to keep a small promise to her daughter during the worst day of her life. Starring Cameron Diaz and directed by Jake Szymanski, it

Starring Cameron Diaz, *Bad Day* is an action comedy about Joy, a single mother whose day spirals out of control as she tries to keep a single promise. Netflix plans to release the film on December 11, 2026. With a runtime of 100 minutes, the story begins with an ordinary family promise that sets the entire day in motion. Joy tries to keep a small promise she made to her daughter, but the day spirals into the wildest and most chaotic day of her life.

A Chase That Begins with One Promise

The conflict in this film begins not with a massive mission, but with a promise to a child. Joy has to keep moving to fulfill it, and as unexpected obstacles pile up, the day's goal becomes increasingly difficult. The combination of action and comedy places a sense of responsibility toward family and improvised crisis management within a single flow.

An Ensemble Centered on Cameron Diaz

Alongside Diaz, the cast includes Danielle Brooks, Rhenzy Feliz, John Higgins, Mark Duplass, Jessica Belkin, Ed O'Neill, Rob Corddry, Aidan Mayeri, and Ben Schwartz. The film is directed by Jake Szymanski of *Jury Duty*, with a screenplay by Laura Solon. Good One Productions is handling production, with Beau Bauman serving as producer.

A Comedy That Grows in Scale Over the Course of a Day

Rather than following Joy's personal failure, *Bad Day* traces how an intensely personal promise becomes an increasingly major challenge as it passes through a series of unexpected situations. As Netflix's classification suggests, it is grounded in comedy while adding the rhythm of an action film, with its protagonist constantly on the move and forced to solve one problem after another.