Night driver Eghbal, en route with his pregnant wife, kills a dog. Stranded, he seeks help at Vahid’s garage, unaware his rescuer believes him to be the prison officer who tortured him. Convinced, Vahid abducts Eghbal to bury him alive, but doubts soon arise. To confirm Eghbal’s identity, Vahid enlists fellow victims. During their ride, they contemplate the morality of killing their captive and whether he actually is who they believe him to be.
Un simple accident, Yek tasadof sadeh, Un semplice incidente, 普通事故, Un Simple Accident, Простая случайность, Jedan običan incident
Cannes Film Festival 
Australia Sydney Film Festival Australia 
super my thing and embarrassed to realize this is my first jafar panahi. masterful all around and an eerily subtle descent into hell. could say this about 90% of these cannes films but a bit much for 8am 😵💫
The first time that dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was imprisoned for his supposed crimes against the regime, he spent most of his time in solitary confinement, blindfolded whenever he was taken out to be interrogated. Deprived of the use of his eyes, Panahi focused all of his attention on his ears — he would obsessively listen for auditory clues around him, and fantasize about his captor’s identity based on the sound of his voice.
When Panahi was imprisoned again 12 years later, he was placed in the general population with 300 other prisoners, most of whom had opposed the government in one way or another, but few of whom agreed on the best tactic of doing so. The filmmaker…
Jafar Panahi’s IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT serves as an unrestricted outlet for his rage against the Iranian government, as a vengeful kidnapping grows increasingly fraught. Shot primarily in wides with long takes, the tension is palpable as a terrific ensemble of actors wrestles with their complicity in the act while attempting to evade capture. It’s a taut premise that gradually builds in complexity, anxiety, desperation and even manages to inject some bits of dark comedy, over the course of a single day, while maintaining its justifiable anger throughout.
My full review on Next Best Picture here
ittedly took a while to grasp this but those last twenty minutes floored me, a slow descent from dark comedy into pure dread, jafar panahi went crazy with this one
Somehow threads the needle of being boldly and unapologetically political, making room for difficult questions and ambiguity, and somehow... maintaining an energy that is playful and a little sinister at the same time.
Panahi is brilliant. Happy for him to win a Palme.
One of the must-see films from Cannes 2025. Panahi slowly but masterfully explores the lingering scars, physical and psychological, inflicted by the Iranian regime’s acts of torture. This is a morally complex and rich work which asks the audience to wrestle with the application of justice in an unjust world.
While dark, this film surprisingly and brilliantly plays like a comedy of errors as bungling humans find themselves in over their heads. Haunting final shot
Congratulations to the legendary Jafar Panahi on winning the Palme D'Or this year, overcoming literally every type of obstacles known to creativity in order to put out art time and time again.
This marks the second Palme D'Or win for Iran after 1997's MASTERPIECE Taste Of Cherry
Proud to be Iranian.
<3
Can't wait to see this one
Man, this just rules. Personal, political, powerful, and surprisingly funny. I love it. Would be a worthy Palme winner.
More: www.rogerebert.com/festivals/cannes-2025-it-was-just-an-accident-alpha
Allez ramasse tes dents spectateur, des plans finaux aussi tétanisant que celui-là, t'en verras pas beaucoup dans ta vie
Will be shocked if I see a better ending all year.
Jafar Panahi's "It Was Just an Accident" is so deserving of the Palme d'Or. It's a charged expression of the scars left by oppression and the difficulty of maintaining one's humanity when others have tried to snatch it away.
From Cannes 2025:
Jafar Panahi’s journey to the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize is a gloomy fairytale that culminates in his latest, most incendiary work. A story of formerly incarcerated characters who kidnap the man they believe tortured them in captivity, “It Was Just an Accident” (or “Un Simple Accident”) is a riveting and amusing rebuke of the Iranian regime. It’s also a searing reflection of Panahi’s own experiences as a dissident artist.
The 64-year-old’s troubles date back to at least 1995, when Iran attempted to withdraw his debut film “The White Balloon” from consideration at the Academy Awards and barred him from traveling to the U.S. for its Sundance premiere. In 2010, after several interrogations and arrests, the Iranian…
