You can probably predict from the title that an accident starts this thriller but what happens after is totally unexpected. Of course, a car accident requires a visit to the auto mechanic, but in this film, this car check-up ends up becoming an unintended encounter with unexpected consequences. That’s because the mechanic recognizes the customer’s peg leg, the very same leg that he’s heard while being tortured in prison. Everything that happens, then, is a result of that past. Part of it is actually funny, with the tragicomedy poking fun at how totally unprepared Vahid is to enact his revenge, to the point he’s not even 100% sure he got the correct man. Still, however messy it gets, It Was Just An Accident never forgets the wrong that’s been done, and highlights the reparations Vahid and his fellow inmates should’ve gotten.
"Cinema, manipulative or not, still has its uses, and Panahi summons all the medium’s expressive powers to deliver a fierce, unambiguous denunciation of authoritarian regimes the world over."
— Justin Chang
"It's a beautifully-written and executed work, one of Panahi's most formally straightforward yet powerful, gripping and generous."
— David Jenkins
An unassuming mechanic is reminded of his time in an Iranian prison when he encounters a man he suspects to be his sadistic jailhouse captor.
Oscars
2 nominations
Cannes
1 win
Golden Globes
4 nominations
BAFTA
1 nomination
Nat. Board of Review
1 win
NYFCC
1 win
LAFCA
1 win, 1 nomination
European Film Awards
4 nominations
César Awards
2 nominations
Goya Awards
1 nomination
