Directed By:
Carey Williams
Written By:
K.D. Dávila
Starring:
RJ Cyler, Donald Elise Watkins, Sebastian Chacon, Maddie Nichols, Madison Thompson, Sabrina Carpenter
Genre:
Comedy, Suspense, Drama
Honor pupil Kunle and his laid-back best friend, Sean, are ready to begin their lives. But before graduation, they are intent to be the first Black students to complete their school’s frat party legendary tour. Just as they are about to leave for the night, they find a white girl passed out on the living room floor, with no knowledge of who she is or how she got there. Now having to decide whether it’s the right move to call the police, they, and their Latino roommate, Carlos, must find a way to de-escalate the situation before it’s too late. This coming-of-age dramedy has suspense, humor, and relevant cultural conversations that I really enjoyed watching.
All of the lead actors were awesome. This is a cast of fairly new actors that all give nuanced and strong performances. Kunle and Sean are best friends, but their lives are going in different directions. Kunle is ready to start his career in the medical field and was accepted to a school where Sean wasn’t. Sean still isn’t sure where he’s going in his life and as the two go through the night they are also worrying that their friendship is in trouble, as well as their freedom.
The inciting incident of finding this girl passed out in their place really sets off the overarching issue, which is race and the police. Sure, they did nothing wrong and truly don’t know how they got into this position, but because of the history with law enforcement and the black community, hoping for the police to have the capacity to stop, listen, and understand the situation is highly unlikely to them. The girls family are also looking for her, playing catch with the guys as they try to get help. the supporting roles are all acted well, but not really as important to the story and maybe could be cut down a little bit.
Overall, Emergency is almost like a mixture of Superbad and Blindspotting. Those two films combined seem like a hard sell but director Carey Williams does an excellent job of blending the genres into an entertaining and thought-provoking film.
