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 (Ebrahim Azizi), is heading home with his wife (Afssaneh Najmabadi) and daughter (Delmaz Najafi) 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 (Vahid Mobasseri) 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 Shiva (Mariam Afshari), a spitfire wedding photographer, and a bride named Golrokh (Hadis Pakbaten) who brings her groom (Majid Panahi) and their impetuous friend (Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr) 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), Festival alum Panahi (Closed Curtain, TIFF ’13; No Bears, TIFF ’22) 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?
DOROTA LECH
Content advisory: mature themes
Screenings
Scotiabank 1
Royal Alexandra Theatre
Scotiabank 1
Scotiabank 14