Director: Jafar Panahi
Starring: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohammad Ali Elyasmehr, Deelnam Najafi, Afssaneh Najmabadi
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 104 mins

It Was Just An Accident is the 2025 Palme d’Or winner by Jafar Panahi, an Iranian filmmaker who made the film without official permission from the Iranian authorities after repeatedly criticising their regime in his works and imprisoned several times. The film opens as a man with a prosthetic leg drives his car at night with his wife and daughter. After he accidentally hits and kills a dog, he visits a garage where the mechanic Vahid recognises him from the squeaky sound his prosthetic leg makes as he walks. Vahid kidnaps him, but has final hour doubts when he prepares to bury him alive because he isn’t 100% sure he has the right man. So, Vahid sets about rounding up a group of former Iranian political prisoners to confirm his identity, and there’s fierce debate among them whether it’s right they should take their revenge on the man.

This is a gripping thriller with a bluntly political edge that asks the question – is it morally right to take your revenge on your torturer not just for your own satisfaction but for the greater good of the many others who suffered? For the first half-an-hour where we spend time with the suspected jailer as he tries to get his car fixed, you’re not really sure where the film is going – and there’s a real thrill when Vahid kidnaps him because it comes out of the blue. All of the characters are brilliantly developed and although a totally different setting and story, this film reminded me of Anora in how Vahid is constantly pushed from pillar to post. There’s something almost comical in the lengths the characters need to go to make progress in their revenge quest, even if the reason why they were original imprisoned and tortured is unspeakably bad. Some of the highlights include paying for a bribe via a contactless card reader or having to buy a box of pastries to accompany some cash. Panahi’s script is razor sharp too, with unpredictable hothead Hamid (Mohammad Ali Elyasmehr) getting some brilliant lines and offering multiple perspectives on the situation.

But although Panahi’s film reaches a satisfying conclusion, it’s the last act of the film that doesn’t quite sustain the pace of the first two – I found the film far more profound in its earlier sections. Still, It Was Just An Accident is a thought-provoking and thrilling piece by the courageous filmmaker and is well worth checking out.