''Emergency'' is a 2022 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by Carey Williams from a screenplay by KD Dávila. It is a feature-length adaptation of Williams and Dávila's 2018 short film of the same name. It premiered at the

2022 Sundance Film Festival The 2022 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 20 to 30, 2022. Due to COVID-19 pandemic protocol it was to have been a hybrid festival, but on January 5, 2022 it was announced that the in-person components would be scrapped in favor o ...

. Distributed by

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

, it had a limited release on May 20, 2022, followed by an

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

release on May 27, 2022.

Plot

Best friends and college students Sean and Kunle prepare to become the first black men to complete the "Legendary Tour", a practice of visiting seven frat parties in one night. Along with their Latino friend and roommate Carlos, they discover the unconscious body of Emma, an underaged white woman, in their living room. Sean argues that if they call the police, the color of their skin would be enough to raise suspicion. Kunle convinces the group to take Emma to a hospital ten minutes away. Meanwhile, Emma's sister Maddy and her friends Alice and Rafael start to look for her. The three friends first try an alternate option: dumping Emma's body off outside of one of the parties. As Kunle leaves them to be the lookout, an incident leads several students to chase him off the property and throw objects at their car, shattering a tail light. Maddy uses a phone tracker app to find Emma's location. Carlos accidentally gives Emma a bottle of alcoholic "Death Punch", mistaking it for a sports drink. Sean is unable to convince his relative to lend him his car. Emma regains consciousness and begins to scream when she sees she is inside a stranger's vehicle. She breaks Carlos's nose and kicks Kunle in the face, causing them to crash the car. Emma then runs off into the woods and the three of then chase after her. They find her passed out in a tree and bring her back into their vehicle as Maddy, Alice, and Rafael find them. Maddy attacks Sean and Kunle with a branch and accidentally pepper-sprays herself. Carlos and Rafael, who reveal they are cousins, calm the rest of the group down and explain the situation, though Maddy remains skeptical, asking Emma if any of them assaulted her. Carlos asks how they were able to track Emma, and Maddy reveals that her phone was tucked into her bra, convincing the group that they were truly trying to help her. A scared Sean abandons the group and goes to the "Underground", the last frat party of the "Legendary Tour". Emma begins to overdose as Carlos drives everyone to the hospital. As Kunle performs CPR to save Emma's life, the group is chased by the police, who believe they have kidnapped Emma. They are stopped by the police just as they make it to the ER. The police point a gun at Kunle, the only black man in the car. Alice later explains the situation to the police. Kunle and Carlos are allowed to leave. A white police officer tells Kunle that they should have just called the police in the first place. Sean and Kunle reunite and make up. The morning after the events, Emma and Maddy bring a gift basket to the boys' house and Emma apologizes before Maddy tells her to wait outside. As Maddy begins to read a handwritten apology about involving the police, Kunle shuts the door in her face. While playing a round of

Jenga Jenga is a game of physical skill created by British board game designer and author Leslie Scott and marketed by Hasbro. Players take turns removing one block at a time from a tower constructed of 54 blocks. Each block removed is then placed on t ...

, Sean notices Kunle showing symptoms of

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...

at the sound of distant sirens.

Cast

Production

The short film ''Emergency'' won the Special Jury Prize at the

2018 Sundance Film Festival The 2018 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 18 to January 28, 2018. The first lineup of competition films was announced on November 29, 2017. Awards The following awards were presented: * U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Award: '' Th ...

and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2018

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

. KD Dávila's screenplay made the 2020

Black List Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

of most popular un-produced scripts from up-and-coming screenwriters. The project was in development with

Temple Hill Entertainment Temple Hill Entertainment or Temple Hill Productions is an American film and television production company, established in 2006 by producers Wyck Godfrey Wyck Godfrey is an American producer and executive. He is best known for producing ''The ...

and

. In April 2021, it was announced

RJ Cyler Ronald "RJ" Cyler II (born March 21, 1995) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films ''Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (film), Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'' (2015), ''Power Rangers (film), Power Rangers'' (2017), ''The ...

Sabrina Carpenter Sabrina Annlynn Carpenter (born May 11, 1999) is an American singer and actress. Carpenter made her acting debut with an appearance in the television crime show ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' and had a recurring role on Fox Broadcasting ...

, Donald Elise Watkins, Sebastian Chacon, Maddie Nichols, Madison Thompson, Diego Abraham, and Melanie Jeffcoat were added to the cast. Principal photography took place in spring 2021.

Reception

At the Sundance Film Festival, Dávila won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title 2022 films 2022 comedy-drama films 2022 thriller drama films 2020s American films 2020s comedy thriller films 2020s English-language films 2020s satirical films Amazon Prime Video original films Amazon Studios films American comedy-drama films American comedy thriller films American satirical films American thriller drama films Features based on short films Films about racism in the United States Films set in universities and colleges Sundance Film Festival award winners Temple Hill Entertainment films 2022 independent films