(Los Angeles) Emergency begins like so many other teenage comedies. But the very restless night of the young protagonists of this story quickly takes a scary turn, largely because they are black.
Posted at 10:10 a.m.
The white characters that feature in the classics of the genre, like SuperGravegenerally escape unscathed from their goofy interactions with police officers who are more clueless than aggressive.
Sean and Kunle, the two students at the heart ofEmergencyare well aware that they will not have this chance and quickly panic when they discover an unconscious high school girl in their stay.
Fearing what might happen to them if they call the emergency services for such a compromising case, they convince Carlos, their Latin American roommate, to help them transport the unfortunate woman to the hospital. Then follow a series of adventures as hilarious as they are frightening.
“It feels like it’s going to be a movie at the SuperGrave Where Booksmartit looks like the characters themselves desperately want this to be a teenage comedy,” screenwriter KD Davila told AFP.
“They would like it to be that, but no, it’s not possible,” she continues.
“And that represents the sad and damn reality for a lot of people,” adds the director of the film, Carey Williams.
Emergencywhich premieres May 20 in US theaters and seven days later on Amazon Prime, illustrates the constant burden young men of color must carry in a society that is quick to perceive them as a threat.
Growing up, “I saw this phenomenon where my father and the men in my family, especially the darker-skinned ones, had to do these weird calculations every time we went somewhere, thinking about how we were going to perceive them”, explains KD Davila, whose family has Mexican origins.
“No matter how much you make these kinds of calculations and do your best to radiate ‘innocence’, sometimes it doesn’t matter. You can still be stopped on the side of the road and searched for no reason, ”she says.
Davila and Williams, who is black, had used all these observations to make a short film which won awards at prestigious festivals in 2018. Then Amazon financed a feature film version including pop star Sabrina Carpenter, who was the director. one of the muses of Disney Channel.
Between the two projects erupted Black Lives Matter demonstrations protesting the killing of George Floyd and police brutality, but for the filmmakers, Emergency is not a current affairs film.
“It’s really nothing new. We are happy that people are talking about it and are interested in it. But the idea that it had to come to this is a bit surprising, ”says KD Davila.
To denounce fashion effects and the selective indignation of society, Emergency for example, devotes a scene to a white couple who approaches Sean and his friends to ask them not to park in front of their house… where a “Black Lives Matter” sign proudly sits.
“Culture of Fear”
The filmmakers, however, defend themselves from wanting to send a message on racism to white people. “It’s not ‘we’re going to teach you how bad it is!’ “says KD Davila.
Emergency is more aimed at “people who have experienced this, who have lived in this culture of fear” and “we hope that the film will be cathartic and funny” for them.
For Carey Williams, the film is an opportunity to deepen the relationship between these young friends and their different visions of “black masculinity and vulnerability”.
Preppy and a bit naive, Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins) doesn’t initially feel like he’s being treated any differently because of the color of his skin. For his part, Sean (RJ Cyler), macho and sure of himself, has a fear of authority which seems to stem from past misadventures.
The two students will make very different choices during their eventful night, and Carey Williams hopes viewers can relate to them.
“The film should raise questions about how these young people have to navigate this world,” he says.