A new Netflix drama that appears to have been inspired by the bouncy castle tragedy that killed six Australian children in Tasmania has come under fire.
The Accident, set in Santa Cruz, Mexico, follows a close-knit community after a bouncy castle is blown away by strong winds during a children’s birthday party.
The 10-part series launched on the global streaming giant last month and has since received a score of 5.7 out of 10 on IMDb.
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the similarities to the 2021 tragedy in his state were “disgusting” and showed “massive insensitivity”.
On 16 December 2021, at Hillcrest Primary School in Tasmania, during end-of-year celebrations, primary school students Chace Harrison, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Zane Mellor, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Peter Dodt were murdered.
A bouncy castle and zorbing balls were blown ten metres into the air by a gust of wind while the children were inside. Three other children were also injured.
“Netflix should apologise to the (Hillcrest) community,” Rockliff told the Tasmanian Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.
Netflix said on its Tadum website that The Accident is fictional and not based on a real-life event and pointed to data from the American Meteorological Society showing similar incidents have happened in the United States.
Tasmanian Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff (pictured right) has demanded that Netflix apologise to the families of the Hillcrest victims for its new bouncy castle drama The Accident.
Set in Santa Cruz, Mexico, The Accident (pictured) is a 10-part series that follows a close-knit community after a children’s party takes a tragic turn.
Viewer reaction to the series has been mixed, with some saying it is “sad but good” and others saying it is let down by poor production quality and questioning whether it is “exploitative” of Tasmanian victims.
In November 2023, Taz-Zorb, the company that operates the Hillcrest bouncy castle, was charged with an offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2012 as it allegedly failed to comply with its health and safety duty, putting children at risk.
The company’s operator has pleaded not guilty and the matter is scheduled for a two-week trial in November this year.
The students were celebrating their graduation from primary school when the bouncy castle suddenly tipped over and the children were still jumping on it. They were all between 11 and 12 years old.
Australians raised $1.4 million for the victims’ families, although the money was not released until March 2022.
As a result of the tragedy, several organisations have banned the use of all inflatables on their properties, including the Tasmanian Department of Education.
The Accident (pictured) premiered on the global streaming giant last month and has since received a score of 5.7 out of 10 on IMDb.
From left to right: Zane Mellor, Peter Dodt, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Jalailah Jayne-Marie Jones died on December 15, 2021 when a bouncy castle rose 10 metres into the air and three days later Chace Harrison (right) succumbed to his injuries.
Flowers and messages of support in Tasmania on the first anniversary of the tragedy
The Netflix series The Accident is directed by Klych López and Gracia Querejeta and written by Leonardo Padrón.
The Spanish soap opera sees Daniela Daniela (Ana Claudia Talancón) and Emiliano (Sebastián Martínez) organizing a birthday party for their son, Rodrigo.
However, things take a tragic turn when the wind picks up and a terrible accident lifts the bouncy castle and causes the death of three children.
IDMB’s description reads: ‘A tragic accident radically changes the lives of three families, triggering a terrible spiral of guilt, resentment and violence, which will lead them to explore the most extreme limits of pain, resistance and mercy.’