In high school, I that the majority of us dealt with “clicks,” but when you enter the world of “adulthood” things tend to evolve with people being more responsible and mature. However, there are always going to be those wild times like the time I had eight people (all of us allegedly under the age of twenty-one) in my Orange 1979 Mazda GLC hatchback along with two cases of beer and got pulled over by the police (and may have gotten out of any trouble) when I had too many “adult beverages.” thought I broke my ankle, and laughed about it. My point is: in college most people change in maturity, but still want to have fun regardless of consequences, and this is at the center of director Cary Williams “Emergency”.
Sean (RJ Cyler) and Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins) are best friends who along with Carlos (Sebastian Chacon) rent a house in college. Kunle tends to be more refined and responsible while Sean is the more edgy and louder. On the night of their college’s tradition of seven fraternities all having their big bashes, Kunle head to their house from the lab to freshen up before going out and find a strange girl passed out on the floor in Emma (Maddie Nichols), appearing to be fatally intoxicated. They call Carlos to help (who also doesn’t know who she is), and while Kunle wants to call 911 Sean resists thinking that there will be issues with the police due to Emma being different from them ethnically.
I am very conflicted on this one because while “Emergency” is well-made and gave me a kind of “Dazed and Confused” or “License to Drive” vibe, it’s a bit too outrageous in its storytelling. The cast is good (although a bit stereotypical at time) with comedic moments that had me laugh out loud more than once as it gave a few breaks from the more intense moments. Unfortunately, those portrayals how they are written made me feel like it feel too amplified within it’s confines of race, age, and society. It definitely earns its “R” rating in the first twenty seconds and doesn’t let up, and there is a scene towards the end of the film that took me out of it even more. We often talk about a film that looks good doesn’t carry it without a story to match, and for that reason I cannot recommend “Emergency” and have no intention of watching it again.
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