The Speedway Murders (Adam Kamien/Luke Rynderman, 2023, Australia/USA)

The Speedway Murders is a true crime doc that blends narrative recreations with talking heads and archive footage. It is perhaps understating the case to say that the film simply contains narrative recreations. The film - shot in Australia - fully recreates a Burger Chef restaurant in Speedway, India circa 1978 down to the details of the menus. The four teenage victims - played by local Australian actors with convincing Indiana accents - serve the role of dramatizing the various theories around their abduction and eventual murder in a case that has remained unsolved for over 40 years.

Directors Adam Kamien and Luke Rynderman first provide some context surrounding the locale. The Speedway, Indianapolis area in the late 1970s was an epicenter of various crimes - robbing sprees, the drug trade, and even a mad bomber. One of the challenges in solving the Burger Chef murders - beyond the botched initial investigation - is the sheer volume of potential suspects that could be attached to the case. Coupled with limited and sometimes contradictory eyewitness accounts, along with unreliable confessions, this has led the case to be a mystery. The directors do a great job outlining the various theories and their potential strengths and weaknesses.

While being careful not to confidently identify any one theory as correct, the directors essentially present the case for one particular man as being the most likely suspect. Those interested in true crime and Americana will likely be intrigued by The Speedway Murders, as it manages to dramatize and breathe new life into a confounding 40-year-old case that has been relatively undercovered outside of the local Indiana media. Thankfully it is not so far removed in time that the filmmakers are not able to identify people associated with the case, including friends and family members of the victims.

7/10