Film review: Emergency (2022)

 Well this is a film that's much better than you might expect.  It sort of bills itself as a college bro-comedy (if you go by the trailer, at least - the poster obviously isn't going for that kind of mood), and while there are elements of that, the characters are entirely too well-acted and well-rounded for that kind of film, on top of which there are long stretches that are almost unbearably tense, and there's a real (albeit admirably non-preachy) social message, all-the-more effective because of the sneaky delivery.  The outline is this: two young black buddies at some fairly prestigious (although fake) university are approaching the end of their senior year, 

and to celebrate, Sean (the almost ridiculously charismatic RJ Cyler) wants them (the other being his "Oreo" overachieving child-of-Nigerian-immigrants pal Kunle) to complete the "legendary tour" of seven famous parties thrown by various student organizations/fraternities.  If they do this, they will go up on the wall of "firsts" at the Black Student Union as the first black people to do it (this is not an especially diverse university, clearly). Meanwhile, Kunle is hiding from Sean that he has been admitted into Princeton for graduate school (so Sean's plan that they should live together next year is not going to happen) and is worried about his "babies" - the cultures that are part of his final project.  He puts them away safely in the lab fridge as they head out, but we see the door pop open after they've left.  Fortunately, he remembers that this fridge does that unless you lock it, but by this point they will be behind schedule if they go back.  Sean agrees, but they have to hit their pad first.  The first sign that their night will not go as planned is that their door is open.  Sean immediately blames their other roommate, Carlos (whom he is hoping to avoid having come along on the tour, especially as he's only acquired two tickets to each party) and they quickly go room-to-room to check if anything's been stolen.  They don't find anything missing, but they do find a white girl passed out in their dining room, who, when stirred, simply vomits and passes out again.  And here the dilemma begins.  Kunle immediately suggests they call 911, but Sean is vehemently opposed, pointing out that if the cops find a white girl passed out in the home of brown people, said brown people will instantly be arrested.  (This is not the first time Sean has had to call out Kunle's naivete: the movie begins with them attending an English class where they (actually English) professor puts the N-word up in giant font on the board and wants to discuss it. Sean is gobsmacked, and in discussing it with Kunle afterwards puts it this way: black people just have one rule for white people - don't say that word, but white people don't want to have to do what black people say, so keep trying to find ways to weasel round it.)  Anyway, Carlos (an extremely nerdy Hispanic engineer, who wears a fanny-pack constantly and is prone to offering all and sundry the granola bars he keeps therein) is soon found gaming in his room and he sides with Sean re: not calling 911.  After a brief humorous interlude when they try to work out white people they can ask to call 911 for them (a good candidate, "White Sean," who is a football player, turns out to be on a tour of microbreweries with his mother - presumably the whitest thing the screenwriters could think for him to be doing), they quickly decide on a plan: she's obviously just come from one of the parties, so they should prop her up outside one of them and watch for her to be found by partygoers.  Of course, that doesn't pan out, and their next plan is to get her to a hospital.  But a broken taillight, along with lots of cops stopping people for sobriety tests (the Night of Parties is indeed legendary), along with the girl's sister, friend, and sister's would-be-boyfriend tracking our heroes via the unconscious girl's phone, 

convinced that they have abducted her (and with none of the qualms about calling 911 on three brown guys), things get tenser and tenser.  It wraps up nicely, though, although the last (pre-credits) scene is a gut-punch.  (The mid-credits scene is a welcome comedic moment.)  Highly recommend.