It Was Just an Accident
A small mishap triggers a chain reaction of ever-growing problems. (PG-13, 104 min.)
Original title: Yek tasadef sadeh
Showtimes
Friday, November 28, 2025
(TBD)
Vahid, an unassuming mechanic, has a chance encounter with Eghbal, a man he strongly suspects to be his former sadistic jailhouse captor. Panicked, Vahid gathers several former prisoners, all abused by that same captor, to try and confirm Eghbal's identity. As the bickering group drives around Tehran with the captive, they must confront how far to take matters into their own hands with their presumed tormentor. From master filmmaker Jafar Panahi comes a searing moral thriller that engages with complex ideas about the uncertainty of the truth and the choice between revenge and mercy, as Panahi turns his personal dissonance into a profound and galvanizing work of art. [NEON]
Starring: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Directed By: Jafar Panahi
Languages: Persian, Azerbaijani
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
"An endlessly fascinating and extraordinarily powerful work."
— Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine (Vulture)
"A tremendous work from Jafar Panahi that might go down as his masterpiece."
— Ross Bonaime, Collider
"It’s a cry from the heart, a comic howl in the dark and one of the year’s essential movies."
— Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
"It’s one of the year’s best. Built around a moral question, the film is complex, intelligent, and relatable."
— Karen Gordon, Original-Cin
"In Jafar Panahi’s latest masterpiece, one of the very best movies of the year, five Iranian dissidents debate killing their former torturer."
— Peter Travers, The Travers Take
"It is, bluntly and unabashedly, rip-roaring entertainment, propelled by flurries of comedy, bursts of emotion, and sidelong jolts of social critique."
— Justin Chang, The New Yorker
"Panahi welds scorching social critique to a masterful command of form: a devastating cry for justice, his latest also serves as a superb thriller. It is a towering achievement."
— Leonardo Goi, The Film Stage
"Through cinematographer Amin Jafari’s sense of environment, the script’s agile tonal changes, and the attentive cast, we are enthralled from minute one until the end of an intense thriller that operates quietly but with no less punch."
— Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
"Panahi’s latest feature is a straightforward 24-hour narrative staged with his usual attention to realistic detail, and backed by a terrific ensemble cast. Subtly plotted like a good thriller, the movie slowly but surely builds into a stark condemnation of abusive power and its long-lasting effects."
— Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter
"The director has considered how good people are to respond to brutal injustice, and created in the wake of his own nightmare a movie of bracing anger and empathy. Mr. Panahi’s victimization by Iran’s government may well continue, but this is a film of emotional and political truths that can be crushed by no regime."
— Zachary Barnes, Wall Street Journal
"It Was Just an Accident ends twice. Both times, its brilliance can take your breath away. That is, what breath you have left by the third and fourth acts of Iranian writer-director Jafar Panahi’s latest relentless road trip, wherein the destination isn’t a place or a thing, but a masterful commentary on power."
— Janice Page, Washington Post
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