THE ACCIDENT: SMALL TOWN MYSTERY

The picturesque seaside resort town of Brittany, France, is disrupted by a single accident witnessed in the opening moments of this min-series. Rebecca Courvy (Emma Colberti) wakes sitting in her car going the wrong direction, parked on a highway exit and drunk. As she tries to maneuver her way off the road she’s hit and killed by an oncoming car that also takes the lives of two others.

The next day her husband Gabriel (Bruno Solo) finds out about the accident and along with his daughter is tossed into a spiral of grief. Rebecca’s mother blames it all on Gabriel for taking her daughter away from her upper class home and bringing her here to this small resort area. The police put the accident down to her being drunk which Gabriel disputes since his wife never drank with the exception of a glass of wine now and then. He demands they investigate which they ignore for the most part.

As all of this is going on Gabriel’s construction business is having issues as well. Poor quality product has been placed in some of his sites that he knows he never ordered and he blames one of his workers. Another worker is having financial difficulties and steals the company checkbook. And the woman who runs his office has just lost her father and takes time off to deal with that situation.

Insisting that his wife was not drunk only one officer at the station decides to follow up on the case, a young female officer named Solène (Charlotte Talepaert). Charlotte follows up on various leads and the clues begin to mount. As the series progresses we learn more and more about what happened that night as well as what is going on in the small town of Brittany.

Little doubt is placed in the minds of the viewer that Gabriel is correct that his wife did not cause the accident nor was she drunk. But if not, then why was she there? Why the alcohol? And who was behind it all?

The suspect list grows as two of Rebecca’s closest friends begin to act suspicious. One was a woman who Gabriel dated in college and whose husband is on the police force. Another is a hyper real estate agent who definitely has something to hide. When the first is murdered and the second threatened but a gun wielding mobster we begin to decipher what happened. Or do we?

The series is well made and planned out taking it’s time to unspool the story we’re being told. Not to the point of becoming boring and repetitive but in a manner that allows us to absorb what is going on, to get an idea of what the town is like having fallen on hard times and how the people here are doing what they can to stay above water. It doesn’t rush things but it also doesn’t belabor them.

In French with subtitles only the performances are well done by all involved. Subtitles tend to take your eyes off of the actors as they perform but if you can keep up you can see the job they’re doing. All do so admirably, in particular the troubled Solo as Gabriel. His pain and frustration are on display so well that you can’t help but feel the same emotions watching him.

Acorn Media is releasing the series on disc and that’s probably the best way to watch it. With only 6 episodes it can easily be binge watched over a weekend. Keeping up with what happens in a show like this, in particular since it’s in French, makes binge watching the way to go. Well made, well acted, well written and interesting from start to finish.

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