The Crash

What’s it about?

After a car accident kills two passengers and leaves a teenager fighting for her life, unsettling details prompt a police investigation. Weaving together crash footage, interviews with friends, family, police, prosecutors, and key findings from investigators, this documentary builds toward the criminal trial that forces a reckoning with what really happened that night.

The facts

• Directed by Gareth Johnson (The Body Next Door)
• English language
• Runtime: 95 minutes
• The documentary covers the murder of Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan, after Mackenzie Shirilla intentionally crashed her vehicle into a brick wall.

Why did it get this rating?

This film was self-rated by Netflix. You can find out more about self-rating by streaming providers here.

Drug Use

Drug use is a key element of the case and is discussed and shown in videos and images. This includes:

• Images from a teenager’s phone show them posing with ‘shrooms (psilocybin), including an image of them with a mushroom on their tongue.
• Video clips show a teenager smoking marijuana on multiple occasions.
• Marijuana, mushrooms, and a digital scale are found among from the teenager’s possessions. The prosecutor notes that the mushrooms were concealed in their clothing.
• The teenager’s parents were aware of the teenager’s marijuana use and was openly permissive, saying it was “better than alcohol”.
• Brief clips of the teenager smoking marijuana with a group of friends, preparing to consume edibles, alongside clips of drinking are also shown.

Offensive Language

‘F**k’ and ‘b*tch’ is used aggressively, to insult and threaten.

Content that may disturb 

Footage of the fatal car crash is shown and closely examined. Images from the scene include breakdowns of where each person in the vehicle was positioned after the impact. Police discuss what they found at the crash site, including two people being declared dead at the scene and another person being critically injured and taken to hospital, where she undergoes surgery and a lengthy recovery.

The emotional impact on the families is also explored. Parents who lost children in the crash are required to watch and listen to the footage in court, with one parent becoming physically ill and vomiting. Witness accounts and descriptions of where victims were found, this paints a disturbing picture of the victims' last moments. Themes of grief, regret, trauma, and uncertainty about the events of the case are present throughout.

There is also discussion of bullying and verbal abuse. School records include written complaints about aggressive behaviour, with students reporting that a character called them a “f*cking b*tch” and a “dumb b*tch”.

Additional footage shows an agitated character demanding entry to their partner’s home, shouting threats and abusive language.

Helplines:

The graphic car crash footage could be upsetting for some viewers, especially for those who have gone through similar experiences or been impacted by the loss of a loved one in an accident. If you are struggling with what you have seen on-screen please reach out for help. If you or someone you know needs to talk:

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information

Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?