Sundance Review: EMERGENCY - Two College Students Have a Chaotic Night
I’ve always enjoyed films that tell a story that’s set over the course of one wild night. They always tend to be fun, crazy, fast-paced, and filled with interesting characters. Well, Emergency is one of these types of films. It comes from director Carey Williams, and he went out and made a fantastic movie that not only tells a fun yet intense story but also deals with racial issues in a satirical way.
The story centers on two friends in college who embark on an epic night as they attempt to be the first black students to complete their school’s frat party legendary tour, which involves attending seven frat parties. Their whole plan falls apart when they find a white girl passed out on their living room floor, and things quickly escalate into a chaotic mess. They feel like they’ve found themselves in a horrible situation.
The two main characters in the film have very different kinds of personalities, and they have a roommate that gets pulled into the situation as well. All of these elements combine to make the situation even more interesting. One of them wants to handle the situation by calling 911, the other feels like if they do it will make the situation even worse for them, so they are trying to compromise on a way to handle the situation that will keep them from being accused of something they didn’t do. Of course, every decision they make just seems to make things worse. They just keep digging themselves deeper into a hole.
The situation just goes from bad to worse and from worse to a complete nightmare where they end up in a position where they could really face some serious consequences. On top of that, the relationship of these friends is tested to the extreme.
The whole night escapes into a crazy, intense ending that will have audiences on the edge of their seats. There are things you expect to see happen, but in a way, it subverts these expectations, which I appreciated. The movie takes audiences on quite a harrowing journey, and it leads to a pretty powerful ending. This was a fantastic film, that featured some incredible performances from talented young actors, including RJ Cyler, Donald Elise Watkins, and Sebastian Chacon.
The movie is eventually going to be released on Amazon Prime, and I hope that when it drops, you’ll check it out.
Straight-A college student Kunle and his laid-back best friend, Sean, are about to have the most epic night of their lives. Determined to be the first Black students to complete their school’s frat party legendary tour, the friends strap in for their ultimate assignment, Solo cups in hand. But a quick pit stop at home alters their plans when they find a white girl passed out on the living room floor. Faced with the risks of calling the police under life-threatening optics, Kunle, Sean, and their Latino roommate, Carlos, must find a way to de-escalate the situation before it’s too late.
Two-time Sundance alum Carey Williams (R#J, 2021) makes his U.S. Dramatic Competition debut with Emergency, the darkly comedic and wildly hard-hitting feature version of his short by the same name (a Special Jury Award winner in 2018). Bringing K.D. Dávila’s sharp and layered writing to life through an incredibly talented breakout cast, Williams hazes us with a timely and biting satire in which racial dynamics unmask a world so absurd that it could only be real.
