It is a terrible burden to walk around the world knowing you are a threat. “Emergency.”This horrendous reality sends three young men from color into a panicked, nerve-racking race to find the right socially acceptable course of action in dire circumstances. It could not only endanger their academic futures but also their lives.
Walking a thematic line about the racial biases that plague America’s institutions and society at large akin to other such recent indie productions as “Blindspotting,” “The Land”Or “Monsters and Men,”Carey Williams, who made her debut in the role of director, has returned with his second effort. “R#J”This was a social media take on “Romeo and Juliet”) strikes a difficult equilibrium between its disquieting observations and comedic inclinations.
Williams uses the screenplay written by KD Davila, a director with an equally topical sci-fi short film. “Please Hold,”Currently on the Oscar shortlist. The pair of talented filmmakers who have the ability to tackle stories of social relevance in surprisingly genre-defying ways, collaborated previously on a 2018 short film. “Emergency.”
Best friends Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins, “The Underground Railroad”Sean (RJ Cyler) “The Harder They Fall”Black students are on the verge of graduating. They plan to have an epic party crawl around campus. But they find their plans thwarted when they stumble upon a young white girl lying on the living room floor. Later, they’ll learn her name is Emma (Maddie Nichols) and that her irresponsible sister is trying desperately to find her.
At Sean’s panicked request, they refrain from calling 9-1-1, concerned about how authorities or paramedics will interpret the situation based solely on the young men’s race. They are not advised to invite people who assume they are predators into such a situation. Even if they tell the truth, they won’t be immediately believed.
Carlos (Sebastian Chacon), a Mexican-American roommate, joined them by their third wheel. “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels”The trio, which includes a charming gamer and noble intentions, embarks on a dangerous journey to help their intruder, an intoxicated Goldilocks. They do not want to be at the mercy the police.
Williams and Davila are known for their high-wire act that uses calibrated tonal shifts. With Michael Dallatorre, cinematographer, these early sequences show the fantasies of a relaxing night out.“Brightburn”) painting the frames in colorful lights contrasting with the desolate darkness of what’s to come.
It is possible that the film may be about the following: “Project X” or countless other teenage comedies of hedonistic debauchery before settling into a more solemn mode reflects the Black and Brown youths who aren’t granted the space for such recklessness and lack of consequences that their white counterparts enjoy on-screen or off. They are plagued by the constant fear of making a mistake and being suspect.
Halfway through their increasingly tempestuous ordeal, our heroes stop at Sean’s brother’s home, while his friends are there, which yields a hilarious interlude that speaks to how ingrained the notion of never being given the benefit of the doubt is for Black men in this country. Every laugh “Emergency” elicits, there’s an underlying recognition of that stark message.
Kunle, the image of Black Excellence, was born to African immigrants and has a successful career in medicine. But while his initial concern is saving the bacteria integral to his thesis, the troublesome mission unveils to him that the respectability and status he’s earned — and the fact that his upbringing strayed from common narratives of trauma and scarcity — do not protect him from existing as a Black man in a blatantly racist reality.
A superbly afecting Elise Watkins leads the cast in command of an emotional journey for Kunle that goes from juvenile banter to sheer terror to a brokenness made whole only in the company of Cyler’s Sean, who has a deservedly jaded stance on what ultimately transpires. How the serpentine series of unfortunate events causes a fissure in their bond manifests the creators’ intent to use this friendship, and the limits to which it’s bent over the course of a few hours, to juxtapose their opposing experiences, and how those experiences inform the decision they make under pressure.
Carlos has a far more open-minded approach to how he sees him fitting into this system, or any specific concerns that might apply to his particular background. A brief moment involving one of Carlos’ family members does note how white Latinos benefit from not being instantly other-ized by the dominant culture, a privilege neither he nor his Black companions enjoy.
Although Williams and Davila address issues of race, and even self-serving white guilt, in an engaging manner with layers and humor, some narrative choices may be too blunt. One of the few story beats that rings notably off-the-nose is the inclusion of a classroom where a white teacher singles out Kunle or Sean while lecturing on hate speech.
Despite the negative outliers “Emergency” still offers a third act that’s impossible to predict, attesting to Davila’s skillful subversion of facile expectations and Williams’ dexterity at handling the tension and devastating climax with lyrical tact. Overall, this thrilling and thought-provoking ride works because it favors the dramatic over the subtle, which can be difficult when dealing with a topic that requires immediate attention.
If there’s a single shot that encompasses the plethora of denunciations laid out here, it must that of the eyes of Elise Watkins’s Kunle, mirroring the now iconic image of a stunned and teary Daniel Kaluuya in Jordan Peele’s horror masterwork “Get Out”Although the details may differ, the outcries of despair are the same. Needless to say, when the wheels of the young men’s vehicle come to a full stop, none of them will ever be the same.
“Emergency”Opening May 20th in U.S. theaters, and premiering on Amazon Prime Video May 27th.