Few filmmakers have given as much to make the films they want as Jafar Panahi. The writer and director has gone to jail twice for his films, he’s tried smuggling his movies out of his home in Iran, he’s gone on a hunger strike, and he sold his home to make bail. In 2010, after being arrested, he was banned from making films for 20 years, yet even that didn’t stop him. Panahi has continued seemingly undeterred, continuously making bigger and better works, with films like No Bears, Taxi, and This Is Not a Film that have made him possibly the most important figure in modern Iranian cinema. Panahi’s latest film, It Was Just an Accident, may be his best work yet, having already won the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival back in May. All of Panahi’s films feel deeply personal in their own ways, but It Was Just an Accident is on a completely different level. Panahi crafts a film that is both deeply funny and immensely dark in its subject matter, a balance that the writer-director handles with a deft hand without ever sacrificing either. Each work from Panahi is a gift in and of itself, but It Was Just an Accident proves just how much of a master he is — and thankfully, he’s not letting anything slow him down.
What Is ‘It Was Just an Accident’ About?

It Was Just an Accident begins with a man known as Eghbal (Ebrahim Azizi) driving at night with his wife and daughter, when they accidentally hit and kill a dog. The incident leaves their car damaged and in need of repairs. They pull up to a garage, yet inside is Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), who hides away from Eghbal. As we come to find out, Vahid was a political prisoner, and he believes that Eghbal is the man who tortured him and many others in prison. However, since Vahid was blindfolded in prison, he only has a few details that he bases this assumption on — most notably the sound of a squeaking false leg that he still can’t forget. The next day, Vahid follows Eghbal and, in a spur-of-the-moment decision, kidnaps him and plans to bury his former captor alive. But in the process, he starts to have doubts that Eghbal is actually his tormentor. To try and figure out if he got the right guy, or merely kidnapped a different man with a false leg, he goes to others who were also prisoners for answers, including a bride-to-be (Hadis Pakbaten), her hapless future husband who’s along for the ride (Majid Panahi, the director’s nephew), their wedding photographer Shiva (Maryam Afshari), and loose cannon Hamid (Mohamed Ali Elyasmehr). Together, they all climb into Vahid’s van (in which Eghbal is kept knocked out in a box) and try to solve the mystery of who this man is and what they are going to do with him.
Panahi Beautifully Mixes Absurd Comedy and Immense Tragedy in ‘It Was Just an Accident’

It Was Just an Accident cast in a van
Image via Neon

In that opening scene, where Eghbal hits a dog, his wife calms their daughter by saying, “God simply put it in our path for a reason,” and that’s certainly a statement that keeps coming up throughout It Was Just an Accident, which feels ironic and false, given the aforementioned statement. Whether moments like these are accidental or part of some larger divine purpose, Panahi leaves it up to us to figure it out. But within this, despite everything, there’s also an idea that starts to permeate the film that even though this man might have been a violent prison guard, and these people were horrifically tortured, they aren’t all that dissimilar. They’re both smaller cogs in bigger machines, but in the end, they’re simply people trying to survive in a world that has put them back into one another’s paths yet again. Panahi also touches on the idea that while this group does have an understandable reason to retaliate, maybe it’s better to move forward and let the past be the past. If not, one could end up like Hamid, ready to turn the anger up to eleven at a moment’s notice. These are all ideas that hit even harder once you take into account the horrifying situations Panahi has likely found himself in that inspired him to write such a story. Yet despite this premise being very grounded in a literal shared torture, Panahi somehow manages to keep It Was Just an Accident a wild, often hilarious tale, full of absurd moments that escalate to a ridiculous point. From driving around and gathering more potential people/now accomplices who can point out if this is the man who tortured them, to a twist that brings this group into a completely unexpected scenario of humanity, Panahi never denies the humor inherent in this strange quest for potential vengeance.
Panahi’s Direction in ‘It Was Just an Accident’ Is Nothing Short of Stunning

TIFF 50 logo
Image via TIFF

Panahi also shoots this film gorgeously, often reminding one of another great Iranian filmmaker, Abbas Kiarostami — particularly the wide open spaces of Iran in something like A Taste of Cherry, or the nighttime sequences illuminated by the lights of cars in Like Someone in Love. Panahi utilizes long shots that heighten the most jarring moments within the film. At one point, Panahi takes this group of characters and has them confront each other about how to handle their situation while in the desert, mostly led by Hamid, and it’s stunning how long Panahi lets the moment play out. Similarly, another scene near the end of the film takes its time and goes to some dark yet cathartic places, and Panahi finds the emotion within the scene without ever moving the camera or cutting. Not showing us what’s on the outside of the frame only makes the sequence more impactful and unsettling. But Panahi’s master touch here is the film’s final shot, which will likely go down as an all-timer, with a shot that sticks on one image for almost far too long, until we can’t take the pressure anymore. It Was Just an Accident is a grand work from a filmmaker whose every previous film has already felt like a life-or-death scenario in cinema. The way he interweaves humor and tragedy is nothing short of spectacular, turning a film that could’ve become overwhelmed by its weighty topics, but never does. It’s also beautiful to look at, well-acted (and by mostly non-professional actors as well), and masterfully written. It Was Just an Accident could go down as Panahi’s masterwork, and one of the best films of 2025. It Was Just an Accident comes to theaters on October 15.

It Was Just an Accident

A tremendous work from Jafar Panahi that might go down as his masterpiece.

Release Date

October 15, 2025

Runtime

103 minutes

Director

Jafar Panahi

Writers

Jafar Panahi

Pros & Cons

The way Jafar Panahi mixes humor with deep pain and trauma is impressive.
The gorgeous way he shoots the film, especially at night, is beautiful to behold.
This cast of mostly non-professional actors are incredible.