Ronit J

It Was Just An Accident (2025) Synopsis:

Vahid, an Azerbaijani auto mechanic, was once imprisoned by Iranian authorities. During his sentence, he was interrogated blindfolded. One day, a man named Eqbal enters his workshop. His prosthetic leg creaks, and Vahid thinks he recognizes one of his former torturers.

It Was Just An Accident (2025) Review:

Jafar Panahi is my favourite contemporary filmmaker. I discovered him because of Taxi Tehran (2015), fell in love with his work because of This Is Not A Film (2011), and really there’s been no turning back. I don’t think there’s a single Jafar Panahi film that I did not enjoy. Well, maybe Closed Curtain (2013), but even that had its moments.

What I love about him is the fact that he was so critical of his country’s authoritarian regime that they had to ban him from making movies. Despite being under house arrest, he shot a film—titled “This Is Not A Film”—, smuggled it out of the country in a cake, and had it premiere at Cannes! Panahi is one of those Iranian filmmakers who has perfected the art of ‘docu-fiction’, which blurs the lines between reality and fiction whilst exploring realistic, relevant stories.

It Was Just An Accident finally won Panahi his much deserved Palme d’Or. While I haven’t seen all of this year’s
In Competition films, I can certainly say this: It Was Just An Accident is definitely one of—if not—the best films of the year for me.

Note: I’m still going to rank Santosh higher, because that film hits much closer to home, and is much more relevant to me and my country. But, Panahi’s Palme d’Or winning film is a cinematic masterpiece.

Iranian Cinema: The Most Real Human Stories Under An Authoritarian Regime

If you’re not a fan of world cinema, but still decide to give it a shot, there’s no better recommendation than Iranian cinema. Just the ability of Iranian filmmakers to tell such raw, real stories of human beings whilst navigating the many cultural restrictions imposed on their freedom of expression is a testament to the power of the arts. And of those many filmmakers, Jafar Panahi is my favourite.

It Was Just An Accident starts off with an unassuming family driving late at night on a road with no lights. What follows is a story of grief, trauma, and revenge that truly tests your understanding of what it means to be human in an inhuman world. From Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) to Shiva (Mariam Afshari), to even the to-be bride Goli (Hadis Pakbaten), everyone has suffered trauma in the past as prisoners. While they’re free now, seemingly having rehabilitated into society, their traumas have left them deeply scarred. So much so that they’re willing to stoop down to their tormentor’s level just to exact some satisfying vengeance.

Why were they incarcerated? Why were they treated so inhumanly? Panahi leaves the nitty gritties for the audience to assume, because the problems aren’t the individual incidences. The real problem is systemic. When human rights are forsaken to further authoritarian ideologies, society crumbles under inhuman atrocities. Even free of said atrocities, the traumas and scars continue to haunt their victims, possibly forever.

While our characters still retain their humanity—as proven by their rushing Eghbal’s wife to the hospital, they still (rightfully) hold resentment in their hearts for their (alleged) former tormentor. This dichotomy of human nature, coupled with the complex themes and realistic treatment makes the film an absolutely harrowing watch.

Real, Gritty Art That’s Impossible To Turn Away From

Iranian films, particularly Panahi’s aren’t known for their glamour. It Was Just An Accident retains Panahi’s guerilla-style filmmaking. It’s ugly and gritty, but realistically reflective of the world his characters live in. The long takes that seemingly have nothing much happening actually hold your attention because of the implication of something sinister lurking about. From Vahid stalking Eghbal, to the long, sometimes repetitive, conversations that our characters have discussing what they should do with their captive, everything is a recipe for a boring art film. And yet, It Was Just An Accident held my attention for all 102 minutes of its runtime.

The film features no action, but feels more thrilling than most modern thrillers. The film has no jump scares, and yet it will horrify you with implications of our characters’ traumatic pasts. That’s the power of good filmmaking. That’s the power of honest, empathetic storytelling. Even with many details left hazy, our characters feel real and complex. The drama that unfolds is unreal, and yet the motivation behind it comes from a very real, hurt place. When you don’t know anything, the film lures you in by striking your curiosity. As you start to piece the puzzle together, you stay to see things through, now that you’ve come to care for the characters.

Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve only seen 3 of the 22 films nominated for the Palme d’Or this year. Eddington & The Phoenician Scheme, despite being good watches, didn’t stand a chance before It Was Just An Accident. Whether or not this was the best of the lot is debatable. But, there’s no denying that this film is a gut-wrenching, edge-of-your-seat thriller. A true masterpiece.

It Was Just An Accident (2025) Ending Explained (SPOILERS)

After Eghbal’s wife successfully delivers her baby, our group reconvenes. Hamid, Ali & Goli decide to let the matter go and return to their own commitments. Vahid and Shiva drive Eghbal to a secluded location, where they tie him up to a tree. Lit by the van’s headlights, they begin to interrogate him, threatening to kill him if he doesn’t confess to his crimes. He denies at first, but later caves and confesses to being the ‘Peg Leg’ tormentor. Eghbal does not feel shame at his actions. He genuinely believes he did the right thing and is happy to die as a martyr for the Iranian Regime.

Seeing that he is ready to sacrifice himself, Vahid and Shiva begin to describe in detail the torment they underwent. They claim to recreate the same torment, making sure that Eghbal suffers the same way they all did before they kill him. After much back-and-forth, Eghbal finally breaks down and apologises. He says that he was ‘only doing his job’. That wasn’t an acceptable defence at the Nuremberg Trial, and should not be accepted even today if you face a fascist trying to justify their cruelty.

Finally, Vahid and Shiva set him free but leave him alone in the darkness as they drive away. Sometime later, Vahid is helping his mother move into a new home. Just as he enters to fetch something, he hears the ‘peg leg’ walking towards him. Whether it is the real Eghbal come for revenge, or it’s just a figment of Vahid’s imagination remains unclear. Irrespective of the truth, the ending highlights how scars of a traumatic past never fully heal.

Is It Was Just An Accident (2025) worth watching?

Yes. That’s it. That’s all you need to know.

Watch it, then wonder if such a powerful film could be made in your country. And if someone is making such films in your country, go and support them. Because we need such cinema to keep the human spirit alive in our increasingly fascist world.

In Conclusion:

It Was Just An Accident (2025) by Jafar Panahi is a gut-wrenching thriller that beautifully explores trauma and vengeance against the backdrop of an authoritarian regime.

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