Carey Williams' second feature follows three young men of color weighing the pros and cons of calling the police after discovering a drunk white girl in their house.
The two boys could not be more different, leaving one curious about a friendship origin story that doesn’t get as much play as it deserves in the film. While Sean coasts through university, unimpressed by the pedestrian expectations of academia, Kunle, the son of African immigrants, fashions his identity around achievement. He’s a science nerd whose research has landed him a spot in a Princeton University graduate program.
These perspectives guide their initial reactions when they find Emma , a drunk white girl who broke into their shared apartment, lying passed out on their floor. Kunle wants to call 911 immediately. Sean thinks that’s the worst idea in the world. To help them break the tie, they conscript their third roommate Carlos , a reserved Latino gamer, who, despite being home all day, did not hear Emma walk in and collapse.
Williams’ stylish direction, coupled with K.D. Davila’s assured screenplay, capitalizes on the absurdity of the situation; the boys crack genuinely funny jokes to ease their nerves. Butwould have benefitted significantly from more location and character development. It’s never made entirely clear in what part of the country the boys attend university, although a few jokes about the contradiction of well-meaning white liberals suggest a coastal state.
Where the film does succeed is in framing this familiar examination of police violence in America around friendship. While I found it hard to believe that Kunle, despite his allegiance to American exceptionalism, wouldn’t think twice about calling the cops, his conversations with Sean suggest the class and cultural differences that influence their respective ideologies.
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