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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.

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Kompromat

Kompromat

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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.

The Deadly Affair

The Deadly Affair

Thriller · 1967

Charles Dobbs is a British secret agent investigating the apparent suicide of Foreign Office official Samuel Fennan. Dobbs suspects that Fennan's wife, Elsa, a survivor of a Nazi Germany extermination camp, might have some clues, but other officials want Dobbs to drop the case. So Dobbs hires a retiring inspector, Mendel, to quietly make inquiries. Dobbs isn't at all sure as there are a number of anomalies that simply can't be explained away. Dobbs is also having trouble at home with his errant wife, whom he very much loves, having frequent affairs. He's also pleased to see an old friend, Dieter Frey, who he recruited after the war. With the assistance of a colleague and a retired policeman, Dobbs tries to piece together just who is the spy and who in fact assassinated Fennan.

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Brute Force

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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.

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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.