A Cold-Hearted Squeak - My Review of Jafar Panahi's IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT

*THERE WILL BE SOME SPOILERS IN THE PLOT SETUP, BUT I WILL NOT DISCUSS THE ENDING*

Back in 2010, Juliette Binoche won the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival for her work in Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy. During her speech, she shined a light on another Iranian filmmaker by the name of Jafar Panahi, who had begun his career working as an assistant to Kiarostami.

Panahi has been seen as a bit of a rebel for challenging the Iranian regime to the point where his films have been banned in Iran for their themes of challenging oppression and social injustice. Binoche brought Panahi up as he was imprisoned by the Iranian government even though he was supposed to be that year's Jury President.

Flash forward to 2025. Binoche is now the Jury President. Jafar Panahi had entered a film into the Cannes' competition called It Was Just an Accident, which he made in secret out of safety despite the fact that the bans had been lifted on him making films. 

Binoche and her jury made their statement. Panahi finally won the Palme D'or after many years and caused a bit of a rumbling in the film community as many suspected the top prize might've gone to the Norwegian film Sentimental Value. 

I think rewarding a film like It Was Just an Accident and a filmmaker like Panahi was a very strong choice. Not only was it a film of great artistic merit, but it also served a very savvy political purpose. However, it comes as no surprise that potential mainstream success will come to him as this is undoubtedly his most accessible film in many ways. 

Panahi's films always took on a scrappier approach that felt more in line with the Neorealist era and filmmakers like Roberto Rossellini or Vittorio De Sica. He was always willing to challenge the horrific oppression within Iran, such as in films like 2000's The Circle which goes into the sadistic treatment of women in Iran or 2003's Crimson Gold, in which a man is driven to madness by class disparity and turns to crime as a result. 

While Panahi does indeed dip into an accessible style with It Was Just an Accident, this is a perfect example of giving the audience an intense story and introducing them to a filmmaker who loves shining a light on the horrors of his country.

The film begins with a family driving in a car. The husband (Ebrahim Azizi) along with his wife, who is pregnant, and their young daughter. The road they are on is fairly dark and he ends up hitting a stray dog, which traumatizes the young daughter and leads to her mother telling her "It was just an accident". 

The husband takes the car to a mechanic, but this mechanic named Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) seems to recognize the man by the sound of his voice and the squeak of his prosthetic leg. Vahid ends up stalking the man, captures him, and prepares to bury him alive in the desert. 

And why might you ask? Vahid is convinced that this man is "Eghbar" (Iranian for "peg leg"), a man who tormented him and many others while he was in an Iranian prison. However, when the man pleads that he is not the man he thinks he is, Vahid begins to have doubts but doesn't want to let him go. In order to be sure, he seeks out other people who were in prison with him and suffered at the hands of this man.

It Was Just an Accident is something of a revenge film, and I do think it takes the idea of that subgenre and gives it such a refreshing take. Panahi, despite his clear disdain for the Iranian politics, gives this ensemble the opportunity to express their beliefs and morals and concerns. One of the big themes that is brought up is if they actually want to fight violence with violence while others couldn't give a flying fuck about that high road.

I have stated in the past that nothing used to thrill me more than a good revenge story. I practically salivated watching Oldboy back in the day, and there was certainly an element of intrigue watching this story unfold and seeing if this man is who they think he is or if it would devolve into chaos because Vahid made a hasty decision with tragic consequences.

I think if there was any justice, these actors will get an Ensemble nomination at the upcoming SAG Awards (or Actor Awards as it will soon be called), because as a group, they are truly compelling. I actually want to single out two of the supporting players: 

Miriam Afshari, who plays a photographer named Shiva

Mohammed Ali Elaysmehr as Hamid, the resident hothead of the group

Both of them stood out to me as potential people I would personally nominate for an Oscar, but I do feel as an ensemble, they deserve to be recognized. 

I will admit that when the film began, it started to lose me a little bit. It felt a bit too plodding, but if you do have that feeling watching it, I highly suggest you try to keep going because once it picks up, the pacing and the structure and how Panahi builds the tension is sublime.

It is a literal example of a snowball rolling down a hill, but it never feels overstuffed or bloated. This film is only an hour and 40 minutes long, and it doesn't try to outstay its welcome. Panahi keeps everything taut and swift once the action truly hits and with that, he manages to imbue such dynamic character interactions.

I said I wouldn't discuss the ending, and I won't spoil it here if you haven't seen it, but...yeah. I could see certain people having some thoughts about that, but I personally loved the choice.

All in all, I would say that It Was Just an Accident is a success in so many ways, and I love that we will likely see the film and Panahi nominated for multiple awards. Considering what that man has gone through, I am definitely grateful that he never gave up and still insists on giving us such thought-provoking work.

IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT

Rating: 9.5/10