The Crash Reel review

The dangers of snowboarding

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British documentary-maker Lucy Walker ( Waste Land , Countdown To Zero ) continues her eclectic career with this moving tale of snowboarder Kevin Pearce.

A Winter Olympic hopeful, set to make the US team in 2010, Pearce fell from his board during a practice session, hit his head and suffered a traumatic brain injury.

Part sports doc, part familial saga, the film focuses on the aftershock of the accident, assembling materials from a wealth of home-movie footage.

With some narrative threads suddenly dropped, it’s raw-edged and sometimes jarring. But as a reminder of how fragile life is, it’s spot-on.

Freelance writer

James Mottram is a freelance film journalist, author of books that dive deep into films like Die Hard and Tenet, and a regular guest on the Total Film podcast. You'll find his writings on GamesRadar+ and Total Film, and in newspapers and magazines from across the world like The Times, The Independent, The i, Metro, The National, Marie Claire, and MindFood.