‘Trainwreck: Storm Area 51’ (2025) Netflix Series Review - The Wrong Impact of the Internet

This edition of Trainwreck starts off very seriously. With this, we come to know that this time the matter is deadly. And soon, we hear the voice of Matty Roberts, the man who created a big stir out of a random Facebook joke. Back in 2019, Matty was a 20-year-old boy from Bakersfield, California who worked at a mall. Since he was bored, he started watching a YouTube video and stumbled across Area 51. For those of you who don’t know, Area 51 is a restricted and highly classified site situated in Nevada, belonging to the US military. He created a Facebook event titled “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us,” thinking it's just one of those many jokes that go unnoticed on the internet. To his surprise, the following morning, many people attended the event, and it only escalated. Millions of people knew about it and were ready to attend it. It caught the eyes of the US government. The issue was that handling so many people wanting to enter a classified military site was not easy.

Through this series, we get to witness the chaos unfolding firsthand. It's amusing to see the US Air Force preparing itself to brace and control millions of people who were propelled to storm off because of a random Facebook joke created out of boredom. The man behind this all, Matty himself, comes and tells us his tale and the consequences of his actions. While watching him, you think to yourself- how can some be so irresponsible and not own up. But don’t worry, he comes to the justification on his part. As per him (which also sounds responsible), he never expected the whole thing to blow off and become viral. And he has every reason to say so- he is a guy working at a mall. Of all people, he is by far the last person who will become social media famous. But then again, it’s the internet. It's unforeseeable, and who knows, as I type this, this very review may become viral? So I believe we can take that Matty indeed never thought in his wildest dreams that this would happen.  For the time being, he tried his best to convert this “attack” into a music festival in Rachel, Nevada. Since it was near Area 51. Because of this idea, we also met Connie West, who owns a motel near Area 51. Her concern was legitimate. How does she handle so many people if they decide to enter her motel? She is the person who has to give the permit to Matty to use the land for the so-called festival. But eventually she agrees.  To do the festival, they created a website called “Raid Rachel,” which seemed very alarming to one of the residents, named Joerg Arnu. The airbase, on the other hand, was getting ready with the help of additional troops to handle the worst. They even issued a warning to all these people. The biggest fear that the US Air Force had was that they didn’t want it to become a mass shooting case, even if they had orders to do so.

It's sad to see how this bunch of people don’t understand a thing about security, and based on a post, are ready to encroach on something so important for their country. Even Matty’s mother understood the gravity of the situation and was anxious about what was going to happen.  She tried to get Matty home when federal agents showed up at his house, asking him to cancel the entire event for security purposes.

This episode of Trainwreck, like its others, is filled with suspense. In two episodes, you get to know in depth what happened on the faithful day and all the other days leading up to the event. Through Matty, we also get to hear the first-hand account of a young man who has no idea what he has done/ the plot is well written based on true events, and the interviews only add up to the fun and informative elements.

Final Score- [8/10]
Reviewed by - Neerja Choudhuri
Follow @NeerjaCH on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times