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Trainwreck: The Real Project X is the latest installment in the Trainwreck anthology series, released on 8 July 2025. It features the story of an event infamously known as the birthday girl incident.
In 2012, the town of Haren in the Netherlands became the center of a chaotic event when a teenager’s birthday party invitation went viral on Facebook. What started as an innocent mistake escalated into a massive riot, with thousands of people arriving, inspired by the 2012 teen comedy film Project X.
The party, subsequently referred to as Project X Haren, resulted in property damage, injuries, and arrests, sending the town into shock. Netflix's documentary Trainwreck: The Real Project X, an anthology series, delves into how this social media blunder spiraled out of control. The 48-minute episode, directed by Alex Wood, features interviews with the teenager, residents, and authorities.
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Trainwreck: The Real Project X - A complete timeline of events
Early September 2012: The Facebook invitation mishap
In early September of 2012, 16-year-old Merthe Weusthuis created a Facebook event for her birthday bash in Haren, Netherlands. She intended to invite friends only, but inadvertently made the event public. The invitation went viral, and before long, thousands of individuals RSVP'd.
Based on the film Project X, which depicted a raucous house party, some users shared the event far and wide in hopes of replicating the movie mayhem. Merthe removed the event when she noticed 17,000 individuals listed as attending, but the harm was done. The openness of the event, combined with the limited knowledge of the extent of social media use in 2012, created the makings for disaster, as per Time
Mid-September 2012: Copycat events and escalating hype
After Merthe deleted her event, others created copycat Facebook pages, calling it Project X Haren, and around 3000 teens arrived. An 18-year-old named Jorik Clarck made one, framing it as a surprise party, but took it down after Merthe’s father called him, worried about safety. However, more anonymous users kept making new event pages, some from outside the Netherlands, as per The Time.
They used Twitter, YouTube, and even a website to promote the party, adding clips from Project X to build excitement. Merchandise with Merthe’s image was sold without her permission. Despite warnings from locals, police and officials did not expect a large turnout and made no plans to manage crowds.
21 September 2012: Birthday party turned into a night of chaos
On September 21, 2012, thousands of teenagers arrived in Haren, expecting a massive party. With no entertainment or crowd control, the situation turned chaotic. People drank, played loud music, and clashed with police, who blocked off streets.
The crowd rioted, flipping cars, setting fires, looting shops, and damaging property. At least 30 people were injured, and dozens were arrested. A journalist reported finding his car vandalized with a brick left on the seat. He is keeping the brick as a souvenir, as he said in the documentary. The riot shocked Haren’s residents, who described their quiet town as a war zone.
Post-September 2012: Aftermath and lessons learned
The riot caused significant damage, forcing Haren’s mayor, Rob Bats, to resign due to criticism over his failure to act on warnings; the mayor even declined to be part of the documentary. Merthe and her family faced harassment and moved away from Haren; now she lives in Dubai and is married to Mohammed Ahmed Adss in November 2024.
The documentary notes that social media also helped with recovery: a group called Project Clean-X Haren organized volunteers to clean up, and “Suspect-X Haren” helped police identify rioters. The event became a warning about social media’s power and the need for better crowd control planning. Merthe, now 28, shared her story for the first time in the documentary after 12 years, reflecting on the unintended consequences.
Stay tuned for more news and updates, and watch Trainwreck: The Real Project X as it is available on Netlfix.
