IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT Trailer: Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or Winner is a Gripping Tale of Revenge

After over a decade of being persecuted and imprisoned by the Iranian government, Jafar Panahi made his triumphant in-person return to the Cannes Film Festival this year, where he presented what may be his most courageous film yet. It Was Just An Accident, which he wrote and directed, is a groundbreaking tale of revenge that follows a group of former political prisoners in Tehran who encounter the man they believe to be their torturer, leading them down a path of moral dilemmas. It stars Vahid Mobasseri, Maryam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr, Georges Hashemzadeh, Delmaz Najafi, and Afssaneh Najmabadi.

It took the audience’s breath away at Cannes, culminating in the Juliette Binoche-led jury to award Panahi the prestigious Palme d’Or, very much deserved for his years of commitment to filmmaking on his terms, and advocating for truth and the rights of his fellow Iranians. This also makes it the 6th consecutive Palme win for distributor NEON, following Parasite, Titane, Triangle of Sadness, Anatomy of a Fall, and last year’s Oscar winner for Best Picture, Anora. The film will also continue its festival tour at TIFF and NYFF this fall.

Ahead of its October 15 release, the gripping official trailer has now arrived.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Vahid, an unassuming mechanic, has a chance encounter with Eghbal, a man he strongly suspects to be his former sadistic jailhouse captor. Panicked, Vahid gathers several former prisoners, all abused by that same captor, to try and confirm Eghbal’s identity. As the bickering group drives around Tehran with the captive, they must confront how far to take matters into their own hands with their presumed tormentor. From master filmmaker Jafar Panahi comes a searing moral thriller that engages with complex ideas about the uncertainty of the truth and the choice between revenge and mercy, as Panahi turns his personal dissonance into a profound and galvanizing work of art.

Watch the official trailer below.

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