Netflix’s viral true crime documentary The Crash covers a fatal car crash that resulted in a murder conviction for the driver of the car, Mackenzie Shirilla.
Shirilla’s story has sparked heated discussion online, particularly on TikTok, viewers coming to strong conclusions after watching the documentary.
The Crash uses footage from Shirilla’s own social media posts to paint a vivid picture of her personality.
The documentary questions if the fatal car crash was an accident, but left many viewers wondering if it was fair to judge Shirilla by her digital footprint.
While The Crash features interview footage of Shirilla, her family and others involved in the case, Shirilla’s frequent, sometimes erratic social media posts gained a huge amount of attention.
Like many Gen Z teens, Shirilla had ambitions of becoming an influencer, and her internet persona has since been placed under the microscope, sparking debate about the line between reality and performance.
What Happened In Netflix’s ‘The Crash’?
According to the documentary, Shirilla was the driver in a deadly car crash that occurred on July 31, 2022.
Shirilla was a 17-year-old high school student at the time, and the crash resulted in the death of 20-year-old Dominic Russo, Shirilla’s boyfriend, and 19-year-old Davion Flanagan, a mutual friend.
According to court records, the car hit a brick building at an estimated 100 mph—the crash investigation determined that in the five seconds before impact there was no attempt to hit the brakes, and that the accelerator remained fully pressed to the floor.
Shirilla was convicted of murder and other charges in connection with the crash, and is currently serving a life sentence in prison, with no possibility of parole for at least 15 years.
Shirilla continues to claim that she blacked out before the car crash, and had no intent to kill the two passengers.
Social Media Reacts To Netflix’s ‘The Crash’
The popularity of The Crash inspired internet sleuths to dig deeper, uncovering eyebrow-raising information that the documentary left out, such as the fact that Shirilla was only 13-years-old when she started dating Russo, who was 16-years-old at the time.
On YouTube, many content creators have stepped up to fill in the perceived gaps, adding more eyeballs to the tragic story, bringing even more attention to Shirilla’s digital footprint.
The social media content posted by Shirilla wasn’t what led to her conviction, but it helped the prosecution form a narrative.
Shirilla was a frequent, spontaneous poster, and some of her content could be interpreted in poor taste, particularly in the aftermath of the fateful tragedy.
In one instance, the prosecution attempted to prove a lack of remorse by playing a clip of Shirilla dressed as a corpse for Halloween, three months after the crash, her costume supposedly inspired by Playboi Carti.
Another clip of Shirilla participating in a TikTok audio trend containing the song lyrics, “I’m the girl you die for” was also presented during the trial—that particular clip was posted in 2021, a year before the crash.
The footage was reposted on TikTok, and the comments were divided—some were convinced that the lyrics had a dark undertone, while others were baffled that a throwaway TikTok meme could be used as evidence in court.
One X commentator argued that Shirilla’s social media posts were typical of a teenage girl, and should not have been used as evidence to determine her character.
The deadly crash was previously documented in an episode of HBO’s Mean Girl Murders—the tone of the series can be deduced by the title.
In the wake of Netflix’s The Crash, and the subsequent online discourse, Shirilla’s social media footprint has completely defined her in the eyes of the public.
‘The Crash’ Shows The Terrifying Power Of Social Media
By posting chosen snippets of her life and leaning into an exaggerated influencer persona, Shirilla appears to have inadvertently created a caricature of herself that was later used against her.
Given the nature of today’s digital landscape—platforms rewarding frequent posts and followers seeking authenticity—documentaries covering young influencers are likely to have access to an extraordinary amount of clips, opening up narrative possibilities in the editing room.
Even highly documented superstars like Elvis and The Beatles might not have the same level of candid footage as a typical influencer, given the clunky video cameras and cultural expectations of the time period.
The 2015 documentary Amy, following the life of the late Amy Winehouse, managed to paint a very intimate portrait of the singer due to the wealth of available footage (and this was before modern social media platforms took off).
With each post, a content creator is creating a simulacrum that might not resemble their true self at all, but could appear highly convincing to a stranger.
