The Crash Reel

It all seems as easy as pie for 22-year-old snowboarding champion Kevin Pearce: he wins race after race, has a shot at getting into the Olympics and beats his rival Shaun White time and again. Then, on December 31, 2009, he falls while attempting a risky jump, sustaining a brain injury and ending up in a coma for 10 days. But as soon as he begins to recover, Kevin only wants one thing: to get back to freestyle snowboarding. With the help of home movies and spectacular race footage, filmmaker Lucy Walker recounts the athlete's growing success and dramatic fall. After three months of convalescence, Walker captures the conversation between Kevin and his family, who can't understand why he would want to put his life in danger all over again. And just what is the effect of his brain injury? In whatever case, Kevin knows what he wants: "I want that feeling back." Accompanied by footage of their dramatic accidents, fellow athletes discuss the terrible injuries they sustained. The film reflects upon the ethics of professional sports: should athletes be protected from themselves? And aren't we the audience complicit if we are drooling over death-defying antics?