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Emergency (2022 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Emergency' is a 2022 American comedy-drama thriller film directed by Carey Williams from a screenplay by KD Dvila. It is a feature-length adaptation of Williams and Dvila's 2018 short film of the same name. It premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Distributed by Amazon Studios, it had a limited release on May 20, 2022, followed by an Amazon Prime 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. When at their Latino friend Carlos's house, 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 a second 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 punch. Sean is unable to convince his relative to lend him his car. Emma regains consciousness and begins to scream at the sight of being inside a stranger's vehicle. She breaks Carlos's nose and punches Kunle, leading them to crash the car. The three of them go after her when Emma escapes into the woods. They find her 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. One morning after the events, Emma and Maddy bring a gift basket to their 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, Sean notices Kunle showing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder at the sound of distant sirens.
Cast
Production
The short film 'Emergency' won the Special Jury Prize at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2018 SXSW. KD Dvila's screenplay made the 2020 Black List of most popular un-produced scripts from up-and-coming screenwriters. The project was in development with Temple Hill Entertainment and Amazon Studios. In April 2021, it was announced RJ Cyler, Sabrina Carpenter, 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, Dvila earned the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.
References
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