It was Just an Accident and the Confrontation of Morality, Justice, and Political Repercussion
- Fatima Privitt
- 6 hours ago
- 5 min read
What would you do if you met your torturer? A voice that has haunted your mind for years, an aura that sends a chill down your spine, with skin that you can feel even in your nightmares. Jafar Panahi’s 2025 film, It was Just an Accident, confronts the hard truths of what a victim would do in the company of their enemy. How would they treat the one who has inflicted fear and pain on their mind and body if they happened to cross paths? Set in Iran, the film follows the story of five former political prisoners: Vahid, Shiva, Golrokh, Ali, and Hamid, who wrestle with their own morality as they re-encounter the man who was their former tormentor.
The film opens with a family of three: a man, a woman, and a child, in a car that accidentally runs over an animal, resulting in the loss of power in the vehicle. They stop at a garage, where mechanic Vahid, played by actor Vahid Mobasseri, hears the voice of the man from the accident asking for a toolbox. He stops in his tracks, attempting to understand where he recognizes the voice from. He alters his voice because he does not want the man to recognize him. He catches only a glimpse of the individual’s back and face, unsure of how he knows this man.
Curious, he begins to follow the man home. After following him for hours, Vahid does not want him to slip through his fingers, so Vahid hits the man unconscious and puts him in his car. Vahid drives to a desert and begins digging to no end. He does not want the man to recognize his voice, so he refrains from speaking but examines him as the man pleads to be let go.
Still unsure if this is the man of his nightmares, Vahid goes to his former prison companion, Salar (George Hashemzadeh), and tells him he found their former torturer, asking if he could identify him from voice alone. Salar, fearful of the consequences, tells Vahid he does not want to be involved, sending him to other former prisoners he has not met who will be able to help. He goes to the former prisoners and meets Shiva, a wedding photographer (played by Mariam Afshari), the bride Golrokh (played by Hadis Pakbaten), her fiancée Ali (played by Majid Panahi), and Hamid (played by Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr). This starts the first act of the film, where Vahid and the former prisoners attempt to figure out if this man, who says his name is Eghbal, is their former torturer, whom they know as “Peg Leg.”
All Vahid can remember about Peg Leg is that he had an accident, which resulted in the loss of his leg. He tries to identify him from his amputated leg, because Eghbal refuses to admit that he is Peg Leg. Vahid asks the other former prisoners if they can recognize him from his knee scar alone in silence, despite them being blindfolded during imprisonment.
When he brings up the name Peg Leg to the former prisoners, it leads to chaos. They all remember the pain and anger they have spent years trying to forget. Shiva, at first, is uncertain if they can trust Vahid, or if this is a trap. She goes in the car, examining his amputated leg. She is unable to trace the certainty of Peg Leg because he is blindfolded and unable to speak, as they once were. Golrokh then examines Eghbal, but is unable to claim it is him without hearing his voice.
Shiva then says they must go to Hamid, her ex-partner, and that he will remember. When they go to Hamid and tell him they found Peg Leg, he enters the car and begins to examine his leg. Moments later he lunges at Peg Leg screaming and hitting him, saying “You piece of sh*t! It’s him! It’s that scumbag! I swear it's him, that’s the leg he lost in Syria. He used to take it out on guys like me. I’ve been running my head over his leg for five years, in my nightmares.” Shiva tells him “we have to be sure!” and Hamid says “He made me feel his rotten leg with a blindfold on to prove his exploits in their f*cking holy war!” Hamid tries to reason with the Prisoners and say that he would never admit it was him, and that “if we let him, he will trap us again.”
As the former prisoners are reminded of their past experiences, their encounter with the man who caused them pain begins to lead them to feel homicidal. Ali pleads with his fiancée, Golrokh, that they should leave, because they will be seen as accomplices, and that “it’s going to be the end of all of you.” She stresses that she must stay and refuses to leave. She says, “It all happened before you, and it has to stop someday. So it falls on today, leave it to me… The scumbag must speak.” When faced with the opportunity to confront those who have inflicted torture, she says that she will not leave.
As they contemplate what they should do to confirm Eghbal is Peg Leg, they are all faced with questions: Should they kill him? Should they harm him? They know that no matter what happens, he will haunt them, and they will face injustice from the government. I found it fascinating how the prisoners are willing to give Eghbal the benefit of the doubt and refuse to harm him unless he admits that it’s him. In their eyes, he is innocent until proven guilty, despite the same rhetoric in their society that works in the opposite of their favor.
Throughout the film, you feel an unwavering anxiety; no matter what happens, the outcome will lead to misfortune. I found myself scared for Vahid and all of the former prisoners: What if the authorities are able to track Eghbal? What if they figure out it’s Vahid who kidnapped Eghbal? He’ll go back to jail, or worse, he’ll die.
Resilient director Jafar Panahi drew the film from his own experience as a prisoner when he encountered inmates who endured confinement and vengeance in a world of political hardship. The film was created illegally due to censorship by the Iranian government, but it was able to tell the story of many who are unable to speak out against these parts of society. Panahi shows the harsh reality of what many may fantasize: confronting past suffering, hoping to improve their future, but the fear of the consequences looms over their decision.
In this film, we see individuals who were once peaceful filled with rage for those in power. I was struck by the moment when Vahid says to Eghbal in the final act, “You turned me into a guy who really wants to kill someone. I hit you on purpose, then I dug a grave for you.” As an audience, we see how political oppression impacts individuals in deep and complex ways. An individual who couldn’t imagine hurting a fly could become a person who will dig a grave. An individual might not recognize themselves because they are filled with the same hatred and rage that imposed violence on them.
Following the Oscar campaign for Best International Feature, Jafar Panahi will go to jail because the film was made illegally, in defiance of state repression. This film is a brave exploration of an existential crisis and what happens when one who is considered a subordinate is faced with their own morality. We see pain, violence, and suffering through the lens of justice, and how intensity can find you when you least expect it—even when you believe you have escaped injustice.
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