It Was Just an Accident

What’s intended as a small act of kindness instead sets a traumatized everyman on a twisting path of revenge in this morally complex, psychologically astute thriller from the legendary Jafar Panahi. Having offered some late-night assistance to Eghbal (Ebrahim Azizi) in the wake of an auto accident, Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) grows convinced that he recognizes the supposed stranger’s voice as that of his torturer during a grueling prison spell. Enlisting others who endured interrogation at the hands of the same callous tormentor, Vahid abducts Eghbal and tries to motivate himself to brutally balance the scales of justice. But Eghbal insists, and quite compellingly so, that Vahid’s vigilantes have the wrong man.

Of course, Panahi is well-acquainted with the wraith of Iranian authorities. Directed in the wake of his latest incarceration for criticizing the government, It Was Just an Accident sees Panahi retaining his cutting sense of humour when it comes to cruel twists of fate, while drawing on an overt sense of outrage. Deserved winner of Cannes’ Palme d’Or, his latest is a dizzying, uncompromising tour-de-force.

Palme d’Or, Cannes 2025; Oscar Submission: France