It Was Just an Accident
Opens October 31, 2025
Winner of this year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes, the latest from Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi — his first following his most recent prison sentence — follows a group of citizens pondering revenge against a man they believe was their torturer.
Like so many of Jafar Panahi’s films, Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident opens inside a vehicle. Its driver, Eghbal, is heading home with his wife and daughter when he hits a dog, killing the poor animal and destroying his engine. Seeking roadside assistance, he wanders into a warehouse. Here, a worker named Vahid spots him, and it's possible they are not meeting for the first time. Vahid’s life has been in shambles since his hellish time in prison, due to the actions of a torturer he calls Pegleg — and he thinks Eghbal is this man. While his impulse for revenge is swift-acting, doubt is sewn by his captive, and Vahid must seek out help from other survivors including a spitfire wedding photographer, and a bride who brings her groom and their impetuous friend along for the ride. Confronting the man they believe was a sadistic torturer, the group faces an ethical dilemma. What should they do now?
After being censored and imprisoned (and most recently released after a hunger strike and an international campaign), SIFF favorite Panahi returns with an unforgettable edge-of-your-seat thriller. As victims of Iran’s regime grow in number and revolts are widely reported, one of the country's most daring auteurs boldly turns the camera on himself and asks: Should the victims of the state’s crimes seek revenge or show mercy?
- Original Language Title: Un simple accident
- Director: Jafar Panahi
- Principal Cast: Vahid Mobasseri, Ebrahim Azizi, Madjid Panahi, Maryam Afshari, Hadis Pakbaten, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
- Country: Iran
- Year: 2025
- Running Time: 105 min.
- Producer: Philippe Martin, Jafar Panahi
- Screenplay: Jafar Panahi
- Cinematographers: Amin Jafari
- Editors: Amir Etminan
- Awards: Cannes Film Festival 2025 (Palme D’or)
- Filmography: No Bears (2023), 3 Faces (2018), Taxi (2015), Closed Curtain (2013), This Is Not A Film (2011), Offside (2006), Crimson Gold (2003), The Circle (2000), The Mirror (1997), The White Balloon (1995)
- Language: Persian
- Has Subtitles: Yes
- US Distributor: NEON
- International Sales: MK2