“The Crash” is a dark true-crime documentary that was recently released on Netflix and directed by Gareth Johnson. It is a 90-minute film that explores the 2022 case of 17-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla, who was involved in a high-speed crash that resulted in the tragic deaths of 20-year-old Dominic Russo and 19 year old Davion Flannagan.

Shirilla was convicted of murder after she was found guilty of running her car at 100 mph into a brick warehouse in Strongsville, Ohio. Investigators became suspicious when evidence pointed to no attempts to stop the car or to break before impact. This led authorities to question if the crash was truly an accident or intentional. 

The documentary itself follows the events leading up to the crash and what was going on in the lives of everyone around Mackenzie and the victims. It follows Mackenzie’s toxic relationship with Dom, which was one of the biggest theories for causing the crash. It dives deeper into the investigation and criminal case, and follows Mackenzie’s trial. The documentary includes interviews from the family members and friends of Shirilla and the victims as well.

It covers Mackenzie’s thoughts and feelings about the whole situation, and includes her side of the story as well as a separate interview once she was arrested.

This documentary examines if Mackenzie was a real killer or a troubled teenager caught in a tragic situation. This film features evidence and testimony from multiple sides and people, highlighting the uncertainty and controversy that continue to surround the case.

Although this case was very informational and educational, I feel like it lacked some things that could have made it better. For example, I feel like it turned the case into something that it wasn’t. The case itself is sad, and the documentary did not focus on that as much as it should have. It should have also included more evidence as to why she is only serving 15 years instead of the right amount of sentence time. It made me upset how, in Mackenzie’s prison interview, she didn’t show signs of remorse either.

Another thing is, the reactions of Mackenzie’s parents made me upset, because it was like they didn’t care and even though she is their daughter, they didn’t seem like it was that big of a deal.

Overall, this documentary was pretty good and I watched it several times. It does a solid job at covering everything that it did while leaving the viewers asking: was the crash a tragic accident or an intentional act of anger that resulted in murder?

I would rate this film a 3.5/5 and I recommend it to older teenagers who are interested in true crime. It leaves the viewers with a powerful message: be careful who you trust.