Rating: PG-13 | Runtime: 103 minutes
Release Date: October 15th, 2025 (USA)
Studio: Neon
Director(s): Jafar Panahi
Writer(s): Jafar Panahi

I have a doubt.

To have shot this movie in secret is truly the big story here. That and the Palme d’Or win. Because it’s not just about hidden cameras and night scenes in the desert. It’s also the long takes with a single set-up that demand Jafar Panahi’s script and the actors’ performances (what a great ensemble) are all impeccable.

The result is a tense and introspective morality play pitting all the different possible rationales and emotions that would arise in such a nightmarish scenario. You understand Hamid’s need for revenge as clearly as Shiva’s need to be better than her torturers. You recognize the difference between a sadist and someone at the end of their rope. And we consider the complexities behind the word “coward.” Maybe Vahid does act before he thinks, but he does so to a fault. Quick to want to kill a man and just as quick to save another.

There’s also something to be said about Panahi’s choice to admit there is nuance between those submissive to a system and the system itself while also not pretending the power imbalance inherent to the latter demands that the former be seen as synonymous with it. That’s why the final shot is so chilling. Regardless of Vahid’s ultimate choice, the dread from hearing that squeak will never disappear.

Yes, they are all now zombies left alive to exist as broken people, but they haven’t all lost their souls. They are still strong enough to do the right thing even if doing so ensures they’ll be left wondering if being “weaker” might have been the smarter choice.

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Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr, Majid Panahi, and Hadis Pakbaten in IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT; courtesy of Neon.