Sabrina Carpenter, RJ Cyler, Donald Elise Watkins, and Sebastian Chacon have been cast in an upcoming comedy thriller being produced by Amazon Studios titled Emergency.
The film is currently shooting under the direction of Carey Williams and a screenplay by KD Dávila.
The film is based on a short film of the same title, which picked up the Special Jury Prize at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and the Grand Jury Award at 2018’s SXSW Film Festival. Maddie Nichols (A Murder to Remember), Madison Thompson (Ozark), Diego Abraham, and Melanie Jeffcoat are also set to star in the film.
The story centers on,
“a group of BIPOC college students, ready for a night of partying, as they weigh the pros and cons of calling the authorities when faced with an unusual emergency.”
Cyler will play a character named Sean,
“a college senior ready to embark on a night of partying with his best friend Kunle (Watkins) and roommate Carlos (Chacon). As they return to their apartment to pre-game, they discover a semi-conscious white girl they don’t know on the floor. Kunle wants to call the cops but Sean vehemently opposes the idea concerned how it will look when the cops show up.”
Together, Carlos, Sean, and Kunle load the girl into Sean’s van,
“with the intention of taking her somewhere safe rather than calling the police. Meanwhile, Maddy (Carpenter) has realized that her sister Emma left the party they were at and begins to search for her in a drunk panic using Emma’s phone’s location. What ensues is a chaotic, hilarious, and tension-filled chase all over town as our trio grapples with their differences while attempting to bring Emma to safety.”
Dávila said in a statement:
“When we made the short film, we didn’t anticipate quite how much it would resonate with people. It walked a fine tonal tightrope between comedy and thriller and touched on the culture of fear in BIPOC communities regarding the police. I’m so glad we have the opportunity to tell a bigger version of the story, and extremely fortunate to have found a team that embraced our vision.”
Williams added:
“It’s an honor to collaborate with Temple Hill, Amazon Studios, and the entire creative team of Emergency on such a deeply moving story. I’m thrilled to bring a cinematic exploration of the struggle of young people of color that broadens the type of narrative in this space that audiences have grown accustomed to seeing.”
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