Review: ‘It Was Just An Accident’
2025 / Dir. Jafar Panahi
☆ 4.5/5
Watch if you like: Taste of Cherry, A Separation, and pretending you’re cousin Eddie in Christmas Vacation and you kidnap Chevy Chase’s boss but you’re not sure it’s him so you spend all day driving around with him in your van.
After a father accidentally hits an animal while traveling with his family at night, they pull into a garage owned by Vahid, who recognizes the man’s squeaky prosthetic leg as belonging to his torturer from years of being wrongfully imprisoned by the Iranian government. But he has doubts and begins a quest to assemble an increasingly larger and motley crew of people to try to identify a man whose face they have never actually seen. Surprisingly entertaining for the dark subject matter, Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or-winner explores the morality of revenge, the bonds of trauma, and the thin line between imprisonment and life in an oppressive society. A true masterpiece and a must-watch for anyone living in today’s world.