It Was Just an Accident

It Was Just an Accident (2025) begins when a man thinks he recognises someone in the street. Former political prisoners seize a man they believe tortured them. The problem is that they are not sure; they never saw his face, they know only his voice and the sound of his footsteps. The film proceeds not as revenge but as an argument about whether they have the right man. Jafar Panahi wrote and directed it. He had been banned from making films in Iran for twenty years. It was shot without permits and in secret; Panahi has said that even with recent bans lifted he still had to keep the work hidden and to operate illegally with a very small cast and crew. The actresses appear without headscarves, in direct breach of Iranian law. Vahid Mobasseri and Mariam Afshari lead, with Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten and Majid Panahi. It won the Palme d'Or at the 78th Cannes Film Festival on 20 May 2025. Panahi was present at Cannes in person for the first time in over two decades and used his speech to call on Iranians to unite against the regime. It became the first Iranian film nominated at the Golden Globes for Best Drama, Director and Screenplay, and received Academy Award nominations for International Feature and Original Screenplay. It runs 103 minutes. Good for: political cinema, narratives built on a moral dilemma, and Iranian film. Less good for: it deals with torture and parts of it are heavy. The pace is deliberately flat and much of it happens inside a car. The ending is left open, and anyone wanting closure will not get it.