Crash Land

Do you ever wish that you had a better memory? Be grateful for the human ability to forget. It routinely kicks in to temper the recollection of the most painful events in our lives. It also clouds our memories of childhood. Without it, no parent would ever let their kids out of doors.

Some kids, of course, really do do what they’re told: go directly to and from school, study hard, follow adult advice and take care to avoid dangerous situations. The rest of us cut through holes in fences, ignore warning signs, climb trees, roll down hills and hit each other with bits of wood, only occasionally remembering to remove the nails first. Ever since video cameras because cheaply available, there has been extensive evidence of such exploits. Since YouTube created a home for it, this has been accompanied by a competitive urge.

Lance (Gabriel LaBelle), Clay (Noah Parker) and Sander (Finn Wolfhard) have been filming such escapades since they were eight or so. The film opens as they attempt to ‘jump through fire’ by riding their bikes at a burning tyre hanging from a tree. This does not seem like the best planned stunt, not least because none of them could easily fit through the tyre. Alas, it goes wrong in a more serious way. Only later do they find out that their best friend Darby (Billy Bryk, brother of the director, Dempsey Bryk) had been seriously ill with haemolytic anaemia, and keeping it from them. It wasn’t their fault he died. And, as they point out to horrified family members at his funeral, he died doing what he loved.

“He lived a meaningless life and he died for nothing and it was your fault,” says his grandmother, sick of their shit.

Despite being in their twenties now, none of the guys really have the skills to process this. All they know is that they miss their friend and want to honour him. This leads to the idea of making a real movie, to show people who he really was and how awesome he was. “Maybe movies aren’t shit. Just all the ones that have been made so far,” Lance observes.

Sander is more hesitant, so they talk him into it by telling him he can be the director, something which he actually seems to find an affinity for. A real movie, they decide, needs to have explosions, a car chase, elves and a girl (after all, somebody has to be saved from something). The only girl they know who doesn’t hate them is Quebecois doctor’s daughter Jemma (Abby Quinn), and she refuses to get involved unless there is also beauty and emotion. This is a hard sell, but sooner or later, every filmmaker has to learn the art of compromise.

Films about filmmaking are often dull. This is not a perfect film, but that is not amongst its problems. It is ultimately quite formulaic, but all sorts of unlikely adventures take place along the way. The characters are endearing. The dialogue if fresh and lively. The performances are 100% committed, and it’s pact full of thrilling stunts which you should definitely not try at home (though you will really want to). Indeed, they give every impression of being done for real here, though perhaps a little less dangerously than in the story. This is a narrative with no real antagonist, but there are several scenes when you will find yourself wondering if someone is going to be killed.

Comic moments emerge not just from the filmmaking process, but also from the gradual discovery of just how deeply our heroes are loathed by the townspeople – something which is understandable and yet indicates its own kind of naivety. Of course, the guys also have a lot to learn about themselves. Lance is the most reluctant to do this, clinging on to his original life plan even when faced directly with a character who illustrates what he will become if he doesn’t change it. Sander seems to have a bit more clue, and is already drifting off that track, though he has a Captain Kirk-like tendency to get his shirt off at every opportunity, which will doubtless make some fans very happy.

Clay is caught in the middle. As he finds himself falling in love with Jemma (an initially anxious, deceptively complex character with her own arc), he realises that there actually might be more to life than ‘doing dumb shit’, a revelation, which initially plunges him into a state of terror. If he’s going to open himself up to emotion, he will have to face the reality of his feelings about losing Darby.

There’s a considerable sensitivity and intelligence to this film, underlying its glorious stupidity. If you have any love left in you for the wildness of childhood, you will adore it. There have been some great films at this year’s SXSW, but this is one of the best.

Reviewed on: 18 Mar 2026