Factual error: The New Jersey license plate (L928 : 68FT) did not have the proper format (too many numbers/letters and wrong color). NJ standard plates have a letter followed by two numbers, an emblem, then three letters. NJ plates are yellow/gold reflective at the top, fading to white at the bottom; the Jeep's plate was all white (although the plate holder was buff colored at the top and covered up "New Jersey"). (00:05:07)
Factual error: Kurt Warner worked in the Hy-Vee grocery store in 1994. The Wheaties box he took off the shelf featured Dan Marino #13, which was available in 1995. A 1994 Wheaties box featuring the NFL 75th Anniversary Collectors Edition had a different design and color. Unless Kurt also worked in the store into 1995, the Wheaties box he held in the movie was not yet available. (00:39:50)
Factual error: Treadway used his rear tire to fling a standard sized brick into the path of the police car chasing him. The brick (which weighs between 4.5 - 6 #) not only broke through the police car's windshield, it proceeded to break through the rear window, plus apparently gained enough speed and upward curve to break through the next police car's windshield. A brick flung at an upward curve would not break through a windshield and take a linear path through the car and break the rear window, etc. (00:04:18)
Factual error: At the beginning of Quintet, a modern Manhattan skyline is visible in the distance not a late 1950s skyline. Also, the view is consistent with the Paterson, NJ filming location, not the Upper West Side.
Factual error: When the Coast Guard is calling the fishing vessel, a Cobra CB (citizen's band) radio is pictured with the sound track of a Coast Guard message. The Coast Guard does not broadcast on Citizen's Band. They use the VHF Marine channels instead.
Factual error: When we see Young Shriek struggling with Young Detective Mulligan, the gunshot explodes when the weapon is pointed up and at distance from her face. Obviously a direct shot to her eye socket would have killed her, but she is blind in that eye and has a scar in two distinct parts of the socket. It's hard to imagine how a wound with that pattern could have occurred even thinking of the bullet ricocheting off the top of the trunk or something. (00:02:55)
Factual error: There was a lot of thunder and lightning before the lightning strike that set the barn on fire, but there was no obvious loud thunder AFTER the strike. Lightning can be seen BEFORE the sound of thunder (because lightning travels faster than sound). (00:03:25)
Factual error: The crow (mechanical at least in part) perching atop the dead tree lacked some details/behaviors that would've been displayed by a real crow. Its tail should have been thinner and longer (not short and wide, although they do fan). It would have repeatedly cawed upon noticing Geary and Fenn approaching to alert family members of potential danger. It would not have straightened its head to watch the men; the dominant eye would be used to see better (monocular vision is better than binocular). (00:04:40)
Factual error: The movie largely takes place in California during the 1990s. California's mandatory seat belt law went into effect 1/01/86. When Mickey was driving Kyd to the cemetery, they were not wearing seat belts. Also, Kyd was 8 years old at the time. Although legally permitted to ride in the front, it is advised that kids sit in the back seat for safety. Considering Lyla was recently killed when a driver ran a stop sign, Mickey should have been more concerned for Kyd's safety as a passenger. (01:12:58 - 01:15:05)
Factual error: Sassoon's Military Cross medal is shown ending up thrown in the Mersey and sinking. In his own words from "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer", published in 1930 - "I ripped the MC ribbon off my tunic and threw it into the mouth of the Mersey. Weighted with significance though this action was, it would have felt more conclusive had the ribbons been heavier. As it was, the poor little thing fell weakly on the water and floated away as though aware of its own futility."
Factual error: When Arantxa Sánchez Vicario cries in anger her accent is Mexican, not Spanish, because that's where the actress portraying her is from.
Factual error: Unless left in the vehicle (not the case here), towed impounded vehicles do not have keys. Moreover, lacking keys, a valid registration, possibly proof of insurance, and new plates, vehicles bought at a NYPD auction are to be TOWED away. A newly-purchased auctioned vehicle, such as the Navigator in the movie, is "ticket-" or "citation-ready", not ready to be driven on the streets.
Factual error: Morse code is supposedly being transmitted by the blinking street lights. They supposedly spell "For 3veryth5h1ng that 7iv3s is holy." I know Morse code. It was just a random scattering of letters. (01:00:05)
Factual error: The Black Watch sergeant major wears a crown over three chevrons, which was the correct rank badge for a company sergeant major until 1915. However, this is at least 1916 (as conscription has started and the men are wearing steel helmets, both introduced in 1916). CSMs had been redesignated as warrant officers in 1915 and now wore a crown on the lower sleeves instead.
Factual error: When Sharyn woke up after surgery, she did not know how long she had been there, but her abdominal scar was practically healed. Under these circumstances, she should have had a urinary catheter but did not. Also, when Sharyn lifted her gown to look at the scar, she was wearing bikini-like lace-trimmed navy blue underwear - it is unlikely anyone would have put such underwear on her after surgery. (00:05:14)
Factual error: The initial police scene takes pace 20 years ago. The present year is 2021, so 20 years prior would've made it 2001. The police Chevrolet Tahoe at the opening scene of the film was only made from 2007 and up. (00:05:40)
Factual error: Teenagers Claire and Fiona would have been carded and not permitted to enter the "Saints and Sinners" bar because they were under age 21, but they were able to sit at a table and get served alcohol. (00:51:37)
Factual error: Paul made a big deal out of son-in-law Jeff getting the New York "brownstone" [worth several million dollars], but an exterior view of Jeff looking out a window shows he is NOT in a true brownstone. This must be an end unit, but a brownstone should have all brick on the exterior side - not brick part-way and cement blocks the rest of the way. (00:38:39)
Factual error: After Ressler tells McChesney he wouldn't be surprised if one day she's tracking down sequence killers, McChesney replies, "Not sequence killers. Serial killers. That's what they should be called." But it was Ressler who claimed he coined and is often credited with coining the term "serial killers" (at least in the U.S). ** After showing pictures of some of Bundy's victims, Ressler is shown and it is pointed out, "He [Ressler] is credited with coining the term 'serial killer'." (1:31:30). (00:26:40)
Factual error: After the HEAVY rain and losing his supplies during the storm, Max (Royce's adolescent son) told his sister he needed to find two very dry pieces of wood to be able to make a fire. Everything in the woods would have been soaked, but Max quickly found two "very dry" logs and was able to make a friction fire (in record speed).