Back to trending
It Was Just an Accident

It Was Just an Accident

Drama · Thriller · Crime · 2025

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.

Movie details

It Was Just an Accident

2025 Drama · Thriller · Crime 1h 44m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

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.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over It Was Just an Accident?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

The Unknown Girl

The Unknown Girl

Thriller · 2016

Jenny, a young doctor who feels guilty after a young woman she refused to see winds up dead a few days later, decides to find out who the girl was, after the police can't identify the young woman.

Three Days and a Life

Three Days and a Life

Thriller · 2019

Christmas 1999, in a peaceful little village in the Ardennes. The life of a young boy named Antoine will soon be devastated by three tragic events : the death of a dog, the vanishing of a child, and a big ravaging storm.

The Kingdom

The Kingdom

Crime · 2024

Lesia, a teenager, is taken by a man to a villa where her fugitive father and his men are hiding. A war erupts, leading to death and a chase where father and daughter bond.

The Burned Barns

The Burned Barns

Thriller · 1973

The body of a young woman is discovered near a farm. The judge, Larcher is in charge and thinks that the farmers have something to do with the murder.

Tatami

Tatami

Thriller · 2024

Iranian female judokas Leila and her coach Maryam, travel to the Judo World Championship, intent on bringing home Iran’s first gold medal. Midway through the Judo World Championships, they receive an ultimatum from the Islamic Republic ordering Leila to fake an injury and lose, or she will be branded a traitor of the state. With her own and her family’s freedom at stake, Leila is faced with an impossible choice: comply with the Iranian regime as her coach Maryam implores her to do, or fight on, for the gold.

24 Days

24 Days

Drama · 2014

When Ilan Halimi is kidnapped for ransom because Jewish and supposedly rich, his family and the police start a race against time to save him from the tortures of the "gang of barbarians".

Kompromat

Kompromat

Thriller · 2022

Mathieu, a member of the French institute in Irkutsk, is arrested overnight by the Russian authorities. Imprisoned and accused of sexual abuse on his own daughter, he realises he is a victim of a Kompromat. With the help of the FSB, someone has built up a case to frame him. Isolated, he has no one to turn to. Proving his innocence is impossible: the only solution is to escape.

Brute Force

Brute Force

Crime · 1947

Timeworn Joe Collins and his fellow inmates live under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. Only Collins' dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey's chains?

A Perfect World

A Perfect World

Drama · 1993

A kidnapped boy strikes up a friendship with his captor: an escaped convict on the run from the law, headed by an honorable U.S. Marshal.

The Parts You Lose

The Parts You Lose

Drama · 2019

An unlikely friendship unfolds between a young deaf boy, Wesley, and a fugitive criminal who takes refuge in an abandoned barn on the family’s rural North Dakota farm.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jafar Panahi

Written by

Jafar Panahi

Vahid Mobasseri

Vahid Mobasseri

Vahid

Mariam Afshari

Mariam Afshari

Shiva

Ebrahim Azizi

Ebrahim Azizi

Eghbal

Hadis Pakbaten

Hadis Pakbaten

Golrokh

Majid Panahi

Majid Panahi

Ali

Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Hamid

George Hashemzadeh

George Hashemzadeh

Salar

Court is in session

Put It Was Just an Accident on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Arthouse Gremlin

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.