IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT

FOUR AND A HALF STARS A former prison warden is spotted by a man he had once brutally interrogated. The man rounds up others who also seek revenge.

DRAMA IRAN Persian #ITWASJUSTANACCIDENT Starring Vahid Mobasseri, Miriam Afshari

Jafar Panahi’s IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT is a morally searching thriller that demonstrates, yet again, how little this filmmaker needs in order to say something profound. Stripped of excess and driven by tension rather than plot mechanics, the film unfolds as a quiet but relentless examination of justice, memory and the damage left behind by the unforgivable brutality of state violence. It is gripping without being sensational, political without becoming rhetorical. And it’s debut in cinemas couldn’t be more timely.

The story begins with an apparently minor incident. Somewhere in Iran, a late-night roadside collision with a dog has profound consequences for a group of strangers. For the driver, it’s an inconvenience. For Vahid, a car mechanic, it is something else entirely. He becomes convinced that the man responsible for the accident is the same interrogator who once tortured him in prison. 

Rather than lashing out impulsively but determined to act, Vahid seeks confirmation from others who, like him, carry scars of past abuse. What unfolds is a tense, often uncomfortable process of verification, doubt and debate, as the group struggles to decide what, if anything, should be done.

Out of necessity, Panahi stages much of the film in confined spaces: inside vehicles, bare rooms, and anonymous stretches of road. He could not afford for authorities to uncover his project and secrecy worked in his favour. These anonymous locations heighten a sense of claustrophobia, trapping the characters not just physically but morally. Questions of guilt hang heavy, and the film’s suspense comes not from action but from what is said, withheld, or cautiously implied.

Vahid Mobasseri anchors the film with a restrained, deeply felt performance. His Vahid is not a conventional protagonist; he is brittle, driven, and visibly shaped by trauma. The supporting cast provides a chorus of conflicting responses - anger, fear, scepticism, resignation - each helping to build the film’s ethical complexity. No single perspective is granted authority, and Panahi resists simplifying the dilemma for our comfort.

Fleeting moments of dark humour and everyday absurdity puncture the tension, bringing some light to a darkness that rests on violent ambiguity and unease. Profoundly gripping and emotionally resonant, IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT is another testament to Panahi’s enduring moral courage and cinematic restraint. His film asks difficult questions and refuses to answer them for us. It’s a work that lingers not because of what it shows, but because of what it forces us to confront.

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