Emergency is a 2022 American comedy-drama thriller film directed by Carey Williams from a screenplay by KD Dávila. The film is an adaptation of William and Dávila’s short film of the same name. The film was released on the streaming service platform Amazon Prime last May 27, 2022. The film stars Donald Elise Watkins, RJ Cyler, Sebastian Chacon, Sabrina Carpenter, Maddie Nichols, Madison Thompson, Diego Abraham, Melanie Jeffcoat, Gillian Rabin, Summer Madison, and Patrick Lamont Jr. The film follows three college students who unexpectedly find an unconscious woman in their apartment after a night out of partying. The three are faced with a dilemma and try their best to avoid drawing suspicion from authorities. The film has received positive reviews from critics and Dávila earned the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival. In a review published by The New York Times, they praised the film for its themes saying, “Emergency” infuses a college comedy with lessons about race and entitlement. Similarly, RogerEbert.com commended the film and wrote, “This is a dazzling movie, all the more so for being made on a seemingly tiny budget. “Emergency” has a lot to say even though it never carries itself as a film that has a message.” If you enjoyed Emergency and you’re looking for films with similar themes and humor, here are five movies we recommend watching.
Dope
Dope is a 2015 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa and produced by Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi. Just like Emergency, the film features young protagonists caught in a complicated adventure after a night of partying and also involves racial issues. The film stars Shameik Moore, Tony Revolori, Kiersey Clemons, Kimberly Elise, Chanel Iman, Tyga, Blake Anderson, Zoë Kravitz, and ASAP Rocky. The film follows Malcolm, a ‘90s hip-hop geek living in “The Bottoms”, the worst neighborhood in California. When he gets invited to a drug dealer’s nightclub birthday party, Malcolm and his friends get caught in a tricky situation as they end up being chased by thugs. The film has received relatively positive reviews and in a review by Common Sense Media they described the film as “simultaneously clever, edgy, touching, and thought-provoking.” They also praised the film’s take on relevant representation saying, “Dope is about a group that’s largely without a voice in popular culture — working-class African-American (or other minority) geeks who struggle to fit in and must always be aware of their surroundings.”
Spring Breakers
Spring Breakers is a 2013 American crime film written and directed by Harmony Korine and starring James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine. Just like Emergency, the main characters in Spring Breakers are faced with a series of decisions as they enter the world of crime. The film centers on four college girls spending their spring break at wild parties. However, the girls end up being arrested at one of the parties but are bailed out by a man that introduces them to a world of crime. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. It also ranks in BBC’s 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century. In a review by The Guardian they described Spring Breakers as “Korine’s most technically competent and fluent movie; probably his most commercial, his funniest, perhaps even his least irritating.” Empire also hailed the film as the director’s best film so far saying, “A lurid, luminous teen-bender movie, as ludicrous as it is stylish, and Harmony Korine’s best film in years.”
Superbad
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Superbad is a 2007 American coming-of-age teen buddy comedy film directed by Greg Mottola and produced by Judd Apatow with a screenplay by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. It follows two teenagers Seth and Evan, played by Jonah Hill and Michael Cera respectively. Before graduating high school, the two teens intend to experience a wild high school party and lose their virginity but the two find themselves struggling to achieve their plan. The film has received positive reviews from critics with particular praise for lead performances and was named one of the best high school movies. The Atlantic wrote a review of the film describing it as “one of the most remarkably–and, at its best, hilariously–filthy examples of the genre ever produced.” The New York Times also praised the performances of the lead and supporting actors saying, “the young male actors in “Superbad” look as pleasantly, sympathetically real as they behave. They’re at a total and happy remove from the musclebound cartoons of prime-time and action-flick reveries.”
Dazed and Confused
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The 1993 American coming-of-age comedy film Dazed and Confused written and directed by Richard Linklater has been hailed as a cult film in the genre. The film features an ensemble cast including Jason London, Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Adam Goldberg, Matthew McConaughey, Nicky Katt, Joey Lauren Adams, Renée Zellweger, and Rory Cochrane. Set in 1976, the film follows a group of teenagers in Austin, Texas celebrating their last day of high school. While the film Emergency paints a picture of college life in its storyline, Dazed and confused as described by Washington Post in their review portrays high school life saying“ Dazed is not a call to smoke ’em if you got ’em; nor is it a civic-minded admonition about the evils of narcotics. It’s about life during wartime — the wartime of high school, where the staff is crazy, the parents are clueless and the students are bizarre.”
Dear White People
Dear White People is a 2014 American satirical dark comedy-drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Justin Simien. The film centers on the racial tension among students in a predominantly white prestigious Ivy League school. The film involves racial issues like Emergency though the latter film expresses it more subtly. Dear White People stars Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson, Kyle Gallner, Teyonah Parris, Brandon P. Bell, Brittany Curran, Marque Richardson, and Dennis Haysbert. The film received critical acclaim and in 2017 was adapted into a Netflix series of the same name. BBC published a review of the film and wrote, “Dear White People beautifully satirises the superficially progressive yet stifling PC style that’s come to dominate US college life in the swirling racial stewpot of the 21st Century. It portrays the goings on at Winchester as a microcosm of the Obama era, in which haughty postures too often pass as enlightened.”
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