Upcoming feature 'Emergency' unveils systematic biases through tension and humor

After developing a short film by the same title in 2017, director Carey Williams and writer K.D. Dávila expanded “Emergency” into a feature-length project that highlights white privilege and modern day fears of people of color. Photo courtesy of Quantrell Colbert / copyright 2021 Amazon Content Services LLC

The end of K.D. Dávila’s undergraduate career as a near Eastern studies major at Princeton University presented her with a red pill, blue pill type of situation more divisive than “The Matrix.” If she takes the red pill, she becomes an award-winning screenwriter. If she takes the blue pill, she assists the government in detecting preemptive threats and furthering national security objectives.

After winning the Waldo Salt award at Sundance Film Festival in 2022 for her screenplay of “Emergency,” it’s safe to say she followed in Neo’s footsteps and chose the red pill.

“My fun fact is that the CIA tried to recruit me, and I went to Hollywood instead,” Dávila told The Panther. “I literally chickened out of joining the CIA. I was like, ‘Oh I guess they want me to apply for them,’ and then I got scared and ran away to Hollywood.”

On May 11, Dávila and director Carey Williams sat down with The Panther to discuss their long-term filmmaking partnership and the transformation of “Emergency” from a short film to a feature-length Sundance participant. 

The film revolves around African American college students Kunle (Donald Elise Watkins) and Sean (RJ Cyler), ready to complete a “legendary tour” of seven campus parties in one night. However, their plans are derailed after discovering a young white woman, Emma (Maddie Nichols), unconscious in their living room. 

Afraid of how the police might perceive the situation, they take matters into their own hands to get the girl to safety. 

“For people who haven’t been in situations like this, we wanted (“Emergency”) to make them think and really look at themselves a bit,” Williams said. “We want them to think about the privilege they have that they don’t have to do this calculus that K.D. talks about.”

According to Dávila, drawing out the protagonists’ thought process of not calling the police exposes the underlying message of the film.

“The villain of the movie isn’t necessarily racism in the traditional characterization of blatant, horrible, overt racism,” Dávila said. “The real villain of the movie is that systemic bias that means people of color have to have this burden of anticipating at all times how they’re being perceived — especially (in) situations where you would call 911. It’s absurd that we live in a world where that’s even a thing you can have to think about.”

When Dávila and Williams first crossed paths at Film Independent’s Project Involved program — a fellowship for artists from underrepresented communities — Dávila was on a writing track while Williams focused on directing. It was here they combined their skills to produce the 12-minute short film “Emergency” in 2017. 

“If you’re in a film program, you meet people who are potential collaborators,” Dávila said. “But in many ways, the stars have to align to find the right fit and to find someone who is going to be a good collaborator — who you can talk (and listen) to about story ideas. I feel like we’re lucky it worked out with us."

Following the film’s debut at Sundance, the project was picked up by Amazon Studios, which granted Williams and Dávila the financial backing needed to further their creative pursuits and expand the film into a feature length project.

“It was really cool just to have the opportunity to expand the story,” Dávila said. “We wanted to be able to retain creative control because it was something that was important to us. I remember having conversations with (Williams) being like, ‘I’m writing this so that if we get rejected by everyone, we can make this by putting it on our credit cards and asking for people’s backyards. We were pretty determined to make it work and it’s awesome that we made it this far.”

At the core of the film is the friendship between two unlikely friends. Kunle, the son of African immigrants, is studious and prioritizes his senior thesis project above all. Meanwhile, Sean is gung-ho on their legendary tour and prioritizes a night of fun. Despite their differences, their friendship finds a way to persist as they navigate their predominantly white school together. 

“I always thought of it as this love story, that Sean and Kunle see things in each other that they love,” Williams said. “It’s like this night is pulling them apart, and where is this night going to take them in that relationship? It’s about honing in on that and building that empathy for what each of them is feeling during the course of this night and making you really care about them.”

Williams had previously worked with Cyler — who plays Sean — in the film “R#J” and was eager for the opportunity to work with him again. Once Cyler connected with co-star Elise Watkins, Williams noticed an immediate chemistry between the two. 

Cyler and Watkins later clicked with Sebastian Chacon, who plays Carlos, a third member assisting in bringing Emma to safety.

“(Watkins), when he came in, matched up with (Cyler) so beautifully, and this was on Zoom,” Williams said. “We were in pandemic times. To feel that chemistry through Zoom was dope. After then (Chacon) came in and blew us away, even with what he was wearing. I think he had on a SpongeBob T-shirt.”

The connection between the three actors results in a display of dramatic tension interconnected with traces of comedy, which helps to lighten the tense situation. For Dávila and Williams, conversations were initiated early on about the balance between drama and comedy.

“If you tried to do this movie as a straight drama, it wouldn’t be fun to watch,” Dávila said. “I wanted to make a movie that was going to be cathartic. Otherwise, we’d be trying to teach people something and this was something we wanted to be cathartic for people who have been in that situation. They can look at the screen and say, ‘Yes, I’m laughing because it is absurd that I have to think these things.'”

“Emergency” will be available in select theaters May 20 followed by a release on Amazon Prime beginning May 27.