This article first appeared on Reel Time with Richard Ades.

Two of the bravest movies I’ve seen in the past couple of years have taken aim at Iranian authoritarianism. In 2024, there was The Seed of the Sacred Fig, followed this year by the judo-centric Tatami.

Now, add a third flick that raises a middle finger to Iran’s Islamic dictatorship: It Was Just an Accident, a ballsy effort written and directed by Jafar Panahi. The low-budget thriller deftly creates tension leavened with flashes of humor, all the while wading through moral quagmires and asking questions that defy easy answers.

The tale begins on a dark highway, where we meet a family man (Ebrahim Azizi) who’s driving home with his wife and young daughter when his car breaks down in front of a garage that’s closed for the night.

Luckily for him, the mechanic agrees to take a look at his vehicle anyway. Unluckily for him, the mechanic’s assistant thinks he recognizes this stranded motorist.

Vahid (Vahid Mobaserri) once spent years in prison after being charged with political “crimes” against the state. While there, he was interrogated and tortured by a guard whose face he never saw, but who was recognizable by the squeaking sounds made by his artificial leg.

Vahid thinks he hears the same sounds when this stranger enters his garage.

What follows is a quest for justice—or vengeance, depending on your point of view. Eventually finding a way to capture the motorist, Vahid prepares to bury him alive, only to be attacked by doubt when the stranger claims it’s a case of mistaken identity.

Discussing the fate of their prisoner, whom they suspect of being a sadistic former prison guard, are (from left) Shiva (Miriam Afshari), Hamid (Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr), Ali (Majid Panahi), Golrokh (Hadis Pakbaten) and Vahid (Vahid Mobaserri). (Photo courtesy of Neon)

Vahid then begins rounding up fellow victims of the guard variously known as “Eghbal the Pegleg” or “the Gimp” in hopes someone can make a positive identification. It’s a motley crew, ranging from a photographer (Miriam Afshari) and her tempestuous ex (Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr) to a bride (Hadis Pakbaten) who’s already decked out in her wedding gown.

Driving around in Vahid’s decrepit van, they vent about their prison experiences and argue about whether the drugged man in the back is really their former tormenter—and, if so, what to do with him. Should they make him pay with his life, or would that simply lower them to the government’s level?

These are heavy considerations, and yet writer/director Panahi manages to add bits of humor that often stem from cultural quirks. For example, it seems that not even kidnappers are immune from paying the tips, gifts and bribes that apparently are a part of Iranian daily life.

Beautifully acted by a committed cast, and beautifully photographed by cinematographer Amin Jafari, It Was Just an Accident is mesmerizing from its beginning to its cathartic and intriguingly nebulous ending. The fact that Panahi made this subversive film without the government’s permission—and thus, in secret—just makes his achievement all the more astounding.

Rating: 4½ stars (out of 5)

It Was Just an Accident (no MPA rating) opens theatrically Oct. 15 in New York City and expands to other markets Oct. 24 and 31.