Official Trailer for ‘It Was Just an Accident’ Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or
by Alex Billington
August 14, 2025
Source: YouTube
“I have a family too, I understand.” Neon has debuted the official trailer for the acclaimed, award-winning new film from beloved Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi titled It Was Just an Accident. The first French title during its premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival was Un Simple Accident, which translates to A Simple Accident, but they changed it for the release. It won the Palme d’Or in Cannes this year, though it’s not my pick. The film explores political repression in Iran & morality. An accident while driving triggers a chain reaction of ever-growing problems. A man kidnaps another man he believes is the man who tortured him when was in prison. But he is unsure, so he finds more ex-prisoners who all end up in a van driving this guy around. From master filmmaker Jafar Panahi comes a searing moral thriller that engages with complex ideas about the uncertainty of the truth and choice between revenge & mercy, as Panahi turns his personal dissonance into a profound & galvanizing work of art. Starring Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, & Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr. View the trailer below.
Here’s the official US trailer (+ poster) for Jafar Panahi’s film It Was Just an Accident, from YouTube:
Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), an unassuming mechanic, has a chance encounter with Eghbal, a man that he strongly suspects to be his former sadistic jailhouse captor. Panicked, he 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 now must confront how far to take matters into their own hands with their presumed tormentor. It Was Just an Accident, originally known as Un Simple Accident (in French) or also A Simple Accident, is written and directed by iconic Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, director of many films including The Circle, The Mirror, Crimson Gold, Offside, Closed Curtain, Taxi Tehran, 3 Faces, and No Bears previously. Produced by Jafar Panahi, Philippe Martin, David Thion. This initially premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, where it won the Palme d’Or top prize. Neon opens Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident film in select US theaters starting October 15th, 2025 this fall. Want to watch it?
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