The very legitimate fear that people of color feel when faced with the potential of confronting police has been featured in numerous films recently, both in documentary and narrative formats. In many cases, it’s a harrowing tale featuring brash reactions by law enforcement that assume the worst and end up needlessly harming those who weren’t doing anything wrong in the first place. The characters in the comedic Emergency know these truths and set out to do everything possible to avoid a tragic fate, which leads to wild hijinks…
Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins) is a star college student on his way to a PhD program at Princeton, described by a classmate as “Black excellence.” His friend Sean (RJ Cyler) isn’t quite as serious, and he’s set on the two of them becoming the first Black students to complete a tour of the school’s frat parties. Their plans are soon derailed when they find a passed-out white girl (Maddie Nichols) on their floor. Worried that they will be considered responsible for her situation, they scramble to figure out how to get her the care she needs without putting themselves in jeopardy in the process.
Emergency is a feature-length adaptation of the short of the same name from director Carey Williams, who was also at Sundance last year with R#J, a social media-tinged version of Romeo & Juliet. Its script comes from KD Dávila, who is on the Oscar finalist list in Live Action Short this season for another project that deals with injustice and discrimination in law enforcement, Please Hold. Emergency may not be entirely original, but it’s a fun ride that smartly and subtly switches from light comedy to deadly drama in an instant.
What’s most worthwhile about this film is the talent it has engaged in front of the screen. Watkins turns in a fine leading performance as the straight man who always stops to think rather than just act, Sebastian Chacon is entertaining as Carlos, the third roommate, Carlos, who just wants to be invited to be part of the fun. Cyler, whose career began at Sundance with the wonderful Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and who was one of the best parts of the true ensemble piece (and Team Experience nominee) The Harder They Fall, is superb. He infuses his character with juvenile energy only to gradually reveal a softer and more sophisticated inner life. B+
Emergency is playing in the U.S. Dramatic Competition of this year’s Sundance Film Festival and will be released at a later date by Amazon Studios.