Summary
Through a lens of toxic relationships and viral social media clips, The Crash challenges viewers to consider whether our digital footprints are a mask or a true reflection of our motives. While it demands patience, the documentary delivers a gut-wrenching look at grief and a final, haunting twist that leaves the audience to judge Mackenzie Shirilla for themselves.
Patience is a virtue – one that is particularly necessary for the Netflix true crime documentary The Crash. The film follows the story of Mackenzie Shirilla, who in 2022 was charged with the murders of Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan. The primary focus of the documentary is the toxic and abusive relationship between Mackenzie and Dom, and how it seems Davion Flanagan, unfortunately, was “just cargo in the backseat.”
The Crash took me back to the day I wrote about One Night in Idaho, a documentary that also requires a little patience from its audience. The Crash is centered on one main theme – a theme I believe to be worthy of stature: “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” This is the classic, viral Dan Pena quote.
Throughout the majority of The Crash, we are met with bundles of social media evidence of who Mackenzie Shirilla is as a daughter, a friend, and a girlfriend. We see countless clips of her smoking cannabis, taking magic mushrooms, and flipping off the camera. It is safe to say that Mackenzie presented herself as untouchable, unstoppable, and incomparable.
This showcases the real struggle we are facing with social media. It seemed evident to me that the documentary was using Mackenzie’s TikTok content to convict her (which, she did make easy for them – she dressed up as a corpse for Halloween the year after Dom and Davion died; a very strange outfit choice, if you ask me). Dom’s sister states in her interview: “If she didn’t kill someone, I guess it wouldn’t have been a big deal. But she did. So now it just kinda sheds light on who she was.”
In the days of social media, how you present yourself online has been met with the debate that it’s “all for show.” Maybe sometimes it is. But more often than not, I believe it is a reflection of who you are at that stage in your life. I post about my husband and nature because it’s what I love most. Mackenzie, at that time, posted about taking drugs, her outfits, and “being a baddie.”
This all raises a difficult yet fascinating debate: is our social media footprint a mask or a motive? For 98% of the documentary, we are presented with the case for why Mackenzie is guilty. However, in the final 2%, we are met with a confusing and unexpected twist. Therefore, you will have to watch The Crash entirely to decide for yourself whether or not she is guilty of intentionally murdering Dom and Dav.
What touched me most in this documentary were Davion’s dad and Dom’s sister. You can see in their spirits how wounded, distraught, and empty they feel; it is understandably gut-wrenching to witness. Similar to the parents in One Night in Idaho, Davion’s family decided to start a charity to help students attain scholarships for barber school in his memory (Davion’s dream after a UCL injury ended his soccer career).
I have personal feelings on the case, naturally, as I am sure you will too. I suspect some of the people in this documentary may receive criticism and “stick” for their behaviors and mindsets surrounding the case, though we couldn’t possibly comprehend or imagine what they must be experiencing.
Ultimately, The Crash is more than just a true-crime documentary; it’s a call to action to look at your own screen and ask yourself: if my life were stripped down to my highlights, what story would it tell? So, if you’re looking for something that will challenge your own life choices, this is the documentary for you.
