What happens when three boys, who happen to be people of color, find an unconscious Caucasian in their living room with no idea who she is and how she got there? The answer is simple. They begin to fear for their lives because even though they are innocent, the police may not believe their innocence. This is what happens to Sean, Kunle, and Carlos in the new comedy satire, Emergency.

Emergency is written by KD Dávila and directed by Carey Williams, based on a short film of the same title created by both Williams and Dávila. The short film won some awards including the Grand Jury Prize at the 2018 SXSW and the Special Jury Prize at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. The feature-length screenplay for the film made the 2020 Black List of most popular unproduced scripts from up-and-coming screenwriters and Amazon Studios picked up the project to develop with Temple Hill Entertainment.

RJ Cyler stars as Sean, reprising his role from the short film. You might recognize Cyler from his titular role as Earl in the 2015 comedy-drama, Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl. Sabrina Carpenter also stars in Emergency. Carpenter is known for her breakthrough role as Maya Hart in the Disney Channel series Girl Meets World (2014–2017). Other cast members include Donald Elise Watkins (Blackbox), Sebastian Chacon (Penny Dreadful: City of Angels), Maddie Nichols (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), and Madison Thompson (Ozark).

Emergency explores the theme of racial bias and highlights how people of color have to fear for their lives even when they are innocent. If you can’t wait to see how the boys get themselves out of this conundrum, you’ve come to the right place. This handy guide will tell you how, when, and where to watch Emergency.

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Image via Prime Video

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Is Emergency In Movie Theaters?

Emergency premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. The film has a limited release and will be available in select theaters on May 20, 2022.

Where Can I Stream Emergency?

Emergency is distributed by Amazon and will come to Amazon’s streaming platform, Amazon Prime Video, on May 27, 2022. Don’t have Amazon Prime? You can subscribe for a month at $14.99 per month or for a year at $139.

Watch the Official Trailer for Emergency

Prime Video released the official trailer for Emergency on May 3, 2022. The trailer introduces us to our leads while they're planning a “legendary tour.” The boys plan to attend seven parties that night, only stopping for five minutes to “pregame, change, and leave.” However, during their five-minute break, they head to their dorm and find an unconscious caucasian girl in their living room. Their Latinx roommate, Carlos (Sebastian Chacon) who was in the dorm all night, was plugged and focused on his gaming so he has no idea who she is either. The boys are faced with a tough decision, they can’t call the police because no matter how innocent they are, three men, who are also people of color, in a room with an unconscious caucasian is not going to be in their favor. Meanwhile, the girl (whose name is later revealed to be Emma) appears to be missing and her friends are searching everywhere for her.

Who’s Emma and how did she end up unconscious in their dorm? Will the boys be able to clear their names? Will Emma’s friends make things worse when they catch up with the boys? The trailer leaves us with many questions whose answers we can’t wait to see in the movie. The trailer also introduces us to one of the main themes of the film which is racial bias in the police force and how it can force innocent people of color to fear for their lives even when they have done absolutely nothing wrong.

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What Is Emergency About?

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Image via Prime Video

Here's the official synopsis of Emergency:

“Kunle and his best friend, Sean, are both seniors in college about to embark on an epic night of Spring Break parties. Sean has the whole night planned out, including every party they will hit on their “legendary tour”. Kunle is down but mostly concerned with finishing up his mold experiment in his lab, as his acceptance to Princeton is hinging on the results. They return to their apartment to pre-game but find that their roommate, Carlos, left the door open. As they enter with trepidation, Sean and Kunle discover a drunk, semi-conscious white girl they don’t know on the floor and an oblivious Carlos, who didn’t hear her come in over the videogame blaring in his ears. Kunle wants to call the cops but Sean vehemently opposes the idea concerned about how it will look when the cops show up (two black men, one Latinx man, and a passed-out white woman). Together, Carlos, Sean, and Kunle load the girl (who they nickname Goldilocks, but whose real name is Emma) into Sean’s van, to take her somewhere safe rather than call the police. Meanwhile, Emma’s sister, Maddy, has realized that Emma left the party they were at, and begins to search for her in a drunken panic using Emma’s phone’s location. What ensues is a chaotic, hilarious, and tension-filled chase all over town as our trio grapples with their differences while attempting to bring Emma to safety.”

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More Movies Like Emergency That You Can Watch Now

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Image via Focus Features

Looking for more black comedy satires that shed light on racial bias and injustice? Here are some features you can watch before Emergency comes out.

Dear White People (2014): Dear White People is a comedy satire written, directed, and co-produced by Justin Simien. Told from the perspective of many black students, the film follows their lives and the racial tension they face in a fictitious prestigious ivy league college. Dear White People stars Tyler James Williams, Tessa Thompson, Kyle Gallner, and Teyonah Parris. In 2017, Netflix released a TV show of the same name, with some of the episodes being written and directed by Simien. Like Emergency, Dear White People sheds light on racial bias in colleges. You can watch Dear White People on Netflix. You can also rent or buy it on Vudu, Google Play, iTunes, and Amazon.

Sorry to Bother You (2018): Sorry to Bother You is a black comedy satire that tells the story of Cassius Green (LaKeith Stanfield), a black telemarketer who uses a white accent to succeed at his job. Cassius soon finds himself at a crossroads where he must choose between making a profit and joining his activist friends to organize labor. Sorry to Bother You was written and directed by Boots Riley. The film was Riley’s directorial debut and was met with critical acclaim. Sorry to Bother You stars LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thomspon, Omari Hardwick, Terry Crews, Danny Glover, Jermaine Fowler, Steven Yeun, Armie Hammer, Patton Oswalt, Forest Whitaker, and David Cross. Like Emergency, Sorry to Bother You is a satire that gives commentary on the racial struggles of black people in America. You can stream Sorry to Bother You on Netflix. You can also buy it on Vudu, Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, and Google Play Movies.

Dope (2015): Dope follows the life of Malcolm (Shameik Moore), a teenage boy living in a tough neighborhood. Malcolm's life changes after a chance encounter with a drug dealer lands him at the dealer’s nightclub birthday party, leading to a drug chase. Dope was written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa. The film was produced by Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi and stars Shameik Moore, Kiersey Clemons, Tony Revolori, Kimberly Elise, Tyga, Zoë Kravitz, Chanel Iman, Blake Anderson, and A$AP Rocky. You can stream Dope on Netflix. You can also buy it on Vudu, Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, and Google Play Movies.