Emergency Movie Review

Showing theaters starting May 20
Streaming on Prime Video starting May 27

“Emergency” is goofy mix of movies like “The Hangover” and “Weekend at Bernie’s”. There is a high alcohol content missing person, and a few folks stuck with an extra person who is non-responsive. That person is not dead, but they are so blitzed out that they might as well be. The college roommates who find the inebriated under-age girl are in a bad spot. The two Black guys and their Hispanic roomie are afraid to call the authorities. They are capable of handling the situation, right?

There are two Black college roommates in the final year at school. Kunle (played by Donald Watkins) is very straight-laced and concerned about his thesis and biology cultures. His pal Sean (played by RJ Cyler) gets by with the minimum effort, and puts more time into getting hooked into the final year ‘Legendary Tour’. That is hitting all the wild parties at seven Greek Houses all in one night.

They have a Hispanic roommate named Carlos (played by Sebastian Chacon). He is mostly found online playing video games and guzzling energy drinks. Sean is pretty hard on his friends and roomies. He calls Kunle an ‘Oreo’, because he is Black on the outside and White on the inside. He also calls out Carlos, because he is socially awkward and carries a fanny pack.

Sean has tickets and passes for all of the Greek Houses tonight. But there are only two that he could get, so they are not going to tell Carlos. They come home to get ready to go out. But there is something wrong… The front door is open, and Carlos is tucked away in his back room. He did not see anything going on.

But there is an uninvited guest in the house. There is a young White girl passed out on the living room floor. She is dressed like she was going to one of the Greek House parties. Plus she seems to be really drunk. Kunle wants to do the sensible thing – call the authorities. Sean objects. What if the police come and find young White, totally blitzed out girl — just hanging around the place with two Black dudes and a Hispanic with a fanny pack?

Kunle, Sean and Carlos decide to take her to the hospital. They call her Goldilocks, because they figure she had tried a couple of other houses — but their house was ‘just right’. Her actual name is Emma (played by Maddie Nichols). They do not know this, but her sister does. Emma’s sister is named Maddie (played by Sabrina Carpenter) – and she is at one of the Greek Houses getting worried.

Maddie has been looking for her younger sister Emma. She meets another friend Alice (played by Madison Thompson). Alice has been hanging out with a dude named Rafael (played by Diego Abraham). Alice and Rafael tell Maddie that they will go with her to try and locate Emma. Emma still has her phone, and Maddie can use it track where she is located.

So, between these two groups, there are Kunle, Sean, Carlos — taking Emma to the hospital —  and Maddie, Alice and Rafael looking for Emma. But things go wrong because — of course they do! Kunle’s van has a busted tail light. Hes does not want to be stopped by the cops. Maddie has some anger issues, and she makes bad decisions when talking to 911 operators. Sean is bit of selfish bum — and he would rather dump all of his friends and go see if he can party at the Greek Houses.

There is a lot of sneaky traveling back and forth. The guys are trying to avoid any cops, because they have what might happen. The search party group, on bikes and hover board, are tracking the location of the phone (Emma). There is a lot of confusion and things get royally messed up. Sean goes his own way, the rest of them rush to the hospital. There must be some type of ‘Emergency’, ya think?

“Emergency” is a low-key affair, and it has a few nice observations on current social trends. It brings up underage drinking, and potential police brutality. It talks about how ‘trigger words’ might make a person feel, well — triggered. It does all of this with a potential for tragedy around any corner. Yet the outlook works hard to stay positive and sunny. Some people out there are creeps, and you can’t trust them. But sometimes, a friend can be found in the most unlikely of places.

Showing theaters starting May 20
Streaming on Prime Video starting May 27