Film

The Accident

Name: The Accident
Genre: Romance
Released: 2017
Cast: Jessica Lee, Jayde Rossi, Reema Sampat, Alison Ball, Brian Nagel

Other titles called The Accident: the 2009 film, the 2019 series (Channel 4).

Romance

A brief romantic drama about a man whose perspective shifts after meeting someone new, even as circumstances conspire against them. It's a modest, earnest film that sits comfortably in the low-budget indie romance space—quiet rather than showy, interested in feeling over spectacle. For viewers who prefer intimate character studies to grand romantic gestures.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like slow-burn romances where the pull between two people matters more than plot mechanics, and you don't mind a love story that treats fate as a nagging voice rather than a grand design.

Skip it if you want a tightly built romance with sharp dialogue and steady momentum, since this one leans on mood and quiet hesitation and can feel thin when it wants to be weightier.

What it asks of you: It runs under an hour and asks you to sit with long pauses and small domestic moments, so give it your full attention rather than letting it play in the background.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Before Sunrise1995

Two strangers meet by chance and spend one night talking. Linklater builds genuine connection through conversation alone, proving romance lives in dialogue and presence, not plot mechanics.

But It's deliberately paced and skeptical of grand gestures. If you need external conflict or narrative momentum, this will feel glacial.

Like Crazy2011

A relationship tested by distance and circumstance, told with naturalistic performances and handheld intimacy. It captures the specific ache of loving someone when the world keeps pulling you apart.

But The narrative is deliberately meandering and sometimes frustratingly passive. Characters make questionable choices that won't feel satisfying if you want clear resolution.

Firelight2012

A couple reconnects after years apart, forced to confront whether what they had is still there. It's tender and honest about the gap between memory and reality in love.

But Very little happens plot-wise. The whole film is two people in a car talking, which works only if you're invested in watching people process emotion.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Accident

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Her2013

Both films center on a lonely protagonist finding transformation through connection with another consciousness, then grappling with whether that love can survive when circumstance—or nature—works against it.

Spike Jonze explores connection with someone who isn't physically present—intimacy with absence at its core. It asks the same question as your film: what does it mean to meet someone who changes you?

But The premise requires accepting a relationship with an AI, which some find emotionally hollow rather than moving. The sci-fi wrapper may distract from the romance.

Paterson2016

Jim Jarmusch's intimate portrait of a bus driver and his wife navigating the small, perfect moments that hold a relationship together. Quiet and genuinely moving.

But It's meditative and plotless. Expecting conventional romantic drama will leave you disappointed by design.

Columbus2017

Two people form an unexpected connection while trapped in a Midwestern town. Director Kogonada uses architecture and silence to explore how humans recognize each other.

But Extremely slow and architectural in its approach. If you want emotional catharsis, this film prefers observation to release.

Here and Now2018

An older couple reckons with how they got here and whether they're still willing to try. Tender, unflinching, and never manipulative about aging and commitment.

But It's deliberately understated and moves at conversational pace. The emotional payoff is quiet, which some viewers experience as no payoff at all.

Lovesong2017

Two women reconnect after years and something shifts between them. It's lyrical and ambiguous, letting you feel the uncertainty and possibility all at once.

But It resists narrative clarity and straightforward emotion. The film asks you to sit with ambiguity rather than resolve it.

Didi2020

A man struggling to connect suddenly finds possibility with a stranger. It's unguarded and genuinely interested in the vulnerability of wanting someone.

But The production is raw and occasionally rough around the edges. Some sequences feel more like rehearsal than finished film.

The Dinner Party2020

Two couples meet for dinner and years of accumulated tension rise to the surface. A character study in how relationships survive through compromise and white lies.

But It's claustrophobic and a bit stagey. If you prefer expansive storytelling to claustrophobic dialogue, this will feel like being trapped.

Never Rarely Sometimes Always2020

Both films trust that watching people care for each other is enough narrative. They find drama in presence, not plot. Both are about people choosing each other despite—or because of—the world's indifference.

Two young women drive from Pennsylvania to New York for an abortion, and the film quietly reveals itself as a love story. Eliza Hittman photographs silence and presence like few directors can.

But It's a political film disguised as a character study, which will feel heavy-handed or preachy depending on your views. Also genuinely sparse—some viewers find it emotionally remote.

The Souvenir2019

Both films are interested in what happens when destiny—fate, circumstance, or another person's will—tells you not to pursue love, and you pursue it anyway. Both ask whether the love was real if it couldn't survive contact with reality.

A young art student falls for a manipulative older man and the film becomes a study of how love blinds us. Joanna Hogg directs with radical specificity and emotional precision.

But It's deliberately obscure and moves through scenes without explaining them. You're watching someone's memory, not narrative clarity. Also deeply sad without catharsis.