🎬 DEEP DIVE: Did Netflix’s Hit True-Crime ‘The Crash’ Only Reveal HALF Of This UNFORGETTABLE Tragedy? 🕵️‍♂️💡

Directed by Gareth Johnson, The Crash walks viewers through the criminal case of a 2022 car crash in Strongsville, Ohio. The driver, 17-year-old Mackenzie Shirilla, was driving her boyfriend, Dom, and his friend, Davion, home from a friends house in the early hours of the morning, when she crashed the car into a brick building, driving over 100 miles per hour. Dom and Davion died in the crash. Mackenzie survived.

After toxicology reports revealed Shirilla had no alcohol in her system, police began to investigate the case as a murder. Her social media presence as an aspiring influencer played a big part in the prosecution’s case, in building the narrative that Shirilla was self-centered, toxic, and, ultimately, capable of murder. In 2023, a judge, Nancy Margaret Russo, concluded that the car crash was premeditated. Shirilla was found guilty of 12 felony charges, including two counts of murder.

While The Crash mostly rehashes what has already been said on this criminal case, the Netflix documentary is notable for the fact that, about an hour into the film, Shirilla gives her first-ever interview from prison, with her lawyer just off camera. Shirilla maintains she had “no intent” to kill her friends. She maintains that she has no memory of the crash, but speculates that perhaps the crash was caused by a medical emergency related to her health condition, POTS, which can cause unexpected fainting.

Perhaps this is why the Netflix documentary makes an effort to include Shirilla’s “side” of the story, including interviews with Shirilla’s parents and friends who believe she didn’t crash the car on purpose. The previous documentaries instead side pretty much exclusively with the prosecution. Tim Troup, the prosecutor in the case, is interviewed in all three docs.

What is the Mackenzie Shirilla documentary on Hulu?

While not a feature-length documentary, there is an episode of a docuseries dedicated to Mackenzie Shirilla streaming on Hulu. Killer Cases Season 4, Episode 12, “Murder on Wheels”—which originally aired on A&E on December 15, 2023, and is now streaming on Hulu, A&E Crime Central, and on the A&E website with a cable login—was written and produced by Brian Ross, and directed and produced by Rhonda Schwartz. You can also watch the episode on Prime Video or Apple TV, if you sign up for the 7-day free trial of A&E Crime Central.

In the “Killer Cases” episode, Shirilla’s case is presented by the prosecution and the parents of one of the victims, Davion Flanagan. You get a lot more of Davion’s backstory, and more of the body cam footage from the office on the scene at the crash site than in The Crash.

Another detail not mentioned in The Crash, that is featured in “Killer Cases:” Audio of Shirilla being interviewed by the detective in the hospital, after the crash. On the audio, Shirilla speaks to her mother in a made-up language, similar to pig Latin, which the police translated to: “Can we tell the police I had a seizure, can we tell the police something like that?”

What is the Mackenzie Shirilla documentary on HBO Max?

There’s another episodes of a different true crime documentary, Mean Girl Murders Season 2, Episode 7 “Under the Influence”—which is streaming on on Hulu, HBO Max, and on Prime Video with a Discovery+ add-on—that gives viewers more insight into Shirilla’s social media presence.

The episode originally aired on Investigation Discovery and HBO Max on May 6, 2024, and was executive produced by Allison Corn, David Erickson, Stan Hsue, and Jennifer Silverman. The episode focuses on Shirilla’s ambitions to become a social media influencer, and includes interviews with her classmates, as well as with Davion and Dom’s parents, Davion’s younger sister, and lead prosecutor on the case, Tim Troup. You see a lot more of Shirilla’s online videos, and hear from classmates that don’t believe Shirilla is innocent.