Aboriginal people are advised that this review mentions deceased Aboriginal persons and may be distressing for some.

Some documentaries seek to answer a question. Others, like 2.6 Seconds: When Tragedy Meets History, force us to ask questions that have never been fully resolved.

The title refers to the 2.6-second interval between the first and the second shots fired by former Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe during an attempted arrest on November 9 2019.

The target was 19-year-old Warlpiri-Luritja man Kumanjayi Walker. While those few seconds sit at the climax of the story, 2.6 Seconds demonstrates how the circumstances that led to Walker’s death stretched back much further.

Rolfe was acquitted of all charges against him, including for murder and manslaughter, in March 2022.

A lens on life in remote Central Australia

2.6 Seconds illustrates the extreme remoteness of the setting in which Walker’s fatal shooting took place. Directed by Darren Dale, the series is set in Yuendumu, a remote community with less than 1,000 residents, west of Alice Springs and more than 1,500 kilometres from Darwin.

At its heart, the series is an examination of policing, power, race, and the enduring consequences of Australia’s colonial history. It places Walker’s shooting within the broader realities of life in the remote Northern Territory. It is especially effective........

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