It Was Just An Accident

“Quietly thrilling”  ★★★★★ Time Out
“It is just so intelligent; so blisteringly powerful; so light of touch” ★★★★★ Evening Standard

This Palme d’Or winner from banned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi is also France’s entry to the International Oscar. Tense, funny, deft and politically acute, this is undoubtedly one of the film’s of the year from a master of modern filmmaking.

A man and his family are driving when they hit a dog and are forced to pull into Vahid’s garage. Vahid realises with a jolt that the driver is his one-time government-sanctioned torturer, now living a happy family life. Taking matters into his own hands and taking the man hostage, by extraordinary coincidence he then meets up with other former victims of this instrument of the state. Now they have a deep moral question: whether to exact revenge or chart a new course away from the cycle of violence? A dark comedy, a surreal fantasy and a shaggy-dog road movie all at once, this is both an excellent entry point and a confirmation of Panahi’s world class filmmaking.