Amazon Studios and Temple Hill have signed on Sabrina Carpenter, RJ Cyler, Donald Elise Watkins and Sebastian Chacon to star in a new comedy-thriller titled, Emergency. The film is being directed by Carey Williams with a script that made the 2020 Blacklist from KD Dávila. 

Emergency follows Cyler as Shawn, a college senior ready for a night of partying, Watkins as Kunle, Shawn’s best friend, and Chacon as Shawn’s roommate, Carlos. When they arrive at their apartment to pre-game, they find a semi-conscious white girl they don’t know, played by Carpenter, on the floor. The friends are then forced to decide between calling the police and keeping the situation quiet. 

“It’s an honor to collaborate with Temple Hill, Amazon Studios and the entire creative team of Emergency on such a deeply moving story,” said Williams. “I’m thrilled to bring a cinematic exploration of the struggle of young people of color that broadens the type of narrative in this space that audiences have grown accustomed to seeing. 

The film is based on a short of the same title which was given the Special Jury Prize at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and the Grand Jury Award at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival. The rest of the film’s cast includes Maddie Nichols, Madison Thompson, Diego Abraham and Melanie Jeffcoat. 

“When we made the short film, we didn’t anticipate quite how much it would resonate with people,” said Dávila. “It walked a fine tonal tightrope between comedy and thriller, and touched on the culture of fear in BIPOC communities regarding the police. I’m so glad we have the opportunity to tell a bigger version of the story, and extremely fortunate to have found a team that embraced our vision.”