VIFF 2025: ‘It Was Just an Accident’ Review
A director who has been consistently defiant of the Iranian government and banned from filmmaking in his home country, Jafar Panahi’s persistence in voicing dissent to an authoritarian regime and showcasing the day-to-day lives of Iranian citizens has yielded some of the greatest moments in cinema. A filmmaker unafraid to turn the camera upon himself, Panahi’s greatest strength is that unwavering commitment to telling stories that hold a mirror to his own experiences and those around him. Often blending documentary filmmaking techniques into his fictional films to create something disarming and invigorating, there’s a reason that Panahi’s works have endured, and each new addition to his filmography brings forward a further nuance to a conversation he’s been stoking for decades. His latest film, It Was Just an Accident, feels like a detour from the Iranian auteur’s signature filmmaking techniques but remains fascinating in its approach to a traumatic history that can never truly find closure.
Panahi’s screenplay approaches its subject matter with a mosaic-like quality that continues to punctuate the private burden that remains hidden from the public. After Eghbal’s (Ebrahim Azizi) car breaks down in the middle of the night after accidentally hitting a dog, he is brought to a nearby garage to have his vehicle temporarily fixed so he can drive himself and his family home. However, Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) begins to suspect that Eghbal is not just an everyday family man but actually the intelligence officer responsible for torturing him and many other prisoners. This nagging feeling persists through the night and eventually leads Vahid to take action: he hits Eghbal with his van, abducts him, and plots to torture him—that is, until the prisoner’s cries of confusion and explanations as to his identity start poking holes in Vahid’s convictions.
What follows is an unsurprisingly comedic approach to navigating personal scars from a writer-director who has always been able to maintain an equilibrium between levity and severity in his works. After putting Eghbal back in his van and ensuring he won’t get out by knocking him out and placing him in a locked toolbox, Vahid drives to different ex-prisoners to seek confirmation of what he believes to be true: that this man is responsible for inflicting unimaginable pain on innocent lives. The plot’s simplicity and the constant reminder that everything that transpires throughout Vahid’s quest for revenge has a potentially innocent man blindfolded in the back of his van yield a surprising amount of laughter, given the gravity of the situation. Panahi’s always leaned into comedic sensibilities to help alleviate the stress that can exact a toll on audiences, but here it’s a lot more pronounced.
The surprising element of It Was Just An Accident is that it falls into much more conventional storytelling. There are still moments where it veers into presenting everyday Iranian life with minor digressions, but the film is primarily centred around a thriller plotline. The question of Eghbal’s true identity percolates as the film progresses, but the frustration of not getting any closer to an answer ultimately benefits the impact of Panahi’s screenplay, even if it’s a bit tedious getting to its satisfying conclusion. Characters form their convictions based on smells and other distinct characteristics. They argue the worth of reliving such trauma if they’re ultimately wrong. It’s a tricky situation that never becomes easy to confront. In many ways, they are people still bound within a different kind of prison.
It’s the moments that are stretched out where It Was Just An Accident invites questions of morality in the face of trauma. The finale of the film is the tensest scene depicted in a film by Panahi, and it’s not even the best scene in the film. It follows a sequence where Panahi’s love for the community and the compassion of his fellow citizens shines brightly, in a movie where humanity is constantly at stake. The thriller elements are worn down to their purest form while Panahi lures the audience into Vahid’s state of mind. It Was Just an Accident occasionally feels like it has stretched its concept too far. Still, even in its most mundane moments, the humanity of its characters woven into years of trauma becomes the source of nerve-wracking tension. Panahi continues to be one of the most vital voices in cinema today, and It Was Just an Accident represents a director whose tonal departure still works confidently towards the same defiance of letting oppressors take what little humanity one has left.
The 44th Vancouver International Film Festival takes place from October 2nd to 12th. It Was Just An Accident celebrated its premiere on October 2nd, as part of VIFF’s Special Presentations program. The full list of films selected for the festival can be found here.
