A story about a road trip gone bad, 2018’s Accident introduces us to college-aged pals Jess (Stephanie Schield) and Caroline (Roxane Hayward). In need of a ride to a music festival, they meet up with Fred (Tyrone Keogh) and Thomas (Keenan Arrison), two guys willing to give them a lift.

And more, as Fred and Jess fool around in the back seat. He pushes her too far, though, and in the tussle that ensues, the car rockets off the road.

This lands the vehicle in a ravine. As they struggle to survive, another complication materializes when the car’s owner comes to find it.

I’ll admit it: those plot points boast intrigue, and the movie’s trailer promises a lively thriller. As I near my 52nd birthday, I should know better than to trust those ads, but even if I guard against expectations, the promos imply a film with at least moderate entertainment value.

The main problem comes from the thin nature of the story. Accident includes little that doesn’t appear in my brief synopsis, so it doesn’t use its 92 minutes to flesh out the characters or situations in a particularly rich manner.

Oh, the film tosses little nuggets of info at us that theoretically add substance to the parts. In reality, though, they fail to become anything more than window dressing for this decidedly narrative-light tale.

That said, a movie like Accident doesn’t necessarily require an intricate story to succeed. Essentially about the challenges of survival in difficult circumstances, the basic themes could muster enough energy to occupy the viewer’s attention.

However, Accident tends to stretch out its scenes far too long. For instance, the build to the sequence where the women meet the guys goes on forever, and even the titular crash feels extended beyond its natural end point.

The filmmakers appear to have come up with an idea for Accident and then struggled to find enough content to fit feature length. At 92 minutes, Accident leans toward the short side of the running time street, and it doesn’t mine its territory in a way that milks the inherent drama.

Admittedly, I’ve seen less interesting thrillers, and I kind of admire the minimalist approach. However, the end result simply fails to turn into much more than a good idea. The execution seems lackluster most of the time, so the film becomes a mostly forgettable experience.

Accident appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The image seemed more than satisfactory.

Sharpness worked fine. The occasional slightly soft wider shot emerged, but I felt the majority of the movie offered nice clarity.

No issues with jaggies or moiré effects materialized, and edge haloes were absent. Source flaws failed to become a factor here.

In terms of palette, Accident emphasized teal to a substantial degree. Its tones seemed acceptable given their limitations.

Blacks were reasonably dark and tight, while shadows showed decent to good delineation. Overall, the image looked fine, as it accurately reproduced the source.

When I examined the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Hours, I thought it was moderately active and involving, as the mix used music and atmosphere to nice advantage. These elements created a good sense of place and movement that brought us an engaging soundscape, with the best material found in the smattering of action sequences such as the titular car crash.

Audio quality was positive. Speech was reasonably crisp and natural, and effects showed good punch.

Music was also clear and full. The soundtrack didn’t excel but it connected with the story in an appropriate manner.

The disc opens with ads for Triple Threat, Jonathan and The Endless. We also get a trailer for Accident.

A combination of disaster flick and The Terminator, Accident comes with dramatic potential. In the end, though, the movie fails to exploit its positives in a way that makes it more than mildly interesting at best. The Blu-ray comes with very good picture and audio but it lacks supplements. Accident occasionally threatens to pack a punch but it never quite gets there.