The eponymous mishap sparks a blistering tale of vengeance and oppression in It Was Just An Accident. This meticulous morality thriller is the latest from the great Iranian director Jafar Panahi (Taxi, The Circle, This Is Not A Film), a thorn in the side of his country’s authoritarian regime who have previously arrested and barred him from filmmaking. Winner of the Palme d’Or at the last Cannes, it was shot in secret in Iran (the set was raided at one point), with post-production completed in France.  

When the film opens, we’re peering through a car windscreen as a family of three (soon to be four) drive by night through rural Iran. We meet the severe-looking father (Ebrahim Azizi), who is nervous when his young daughter (Delmaz Najafi) puts on some pop music, with his heavily pregnant wife (Afssaneh Najmabadi) a little warmer and more permissive. The couple allude to a quiet, highly private existence, away from the prying eyes of neighbours and guests.

When their car hits a dog, the child is distressed (‘It was just an accident,’ her mother reassures her. ‘God surely put it on our path for a reason’). The resulting damage forces this family off the road and into the orbit of former political prisoner Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) who, on hearing the squeak of the father’s artificial leg, immediately identifies him as his torturer and jailer Eghbal, a man he has never actually laid eyes on. Acting impulsively, Vahid follows his presumed persecutor, before kidnapping him, driving him to the desert and digging his grave. When his prisoner protests and insists that this is merely a case of mistaken identity (his ID gives his name as Rashid Shahsavari), Vahid is wracked with doubt and visits bookseller and fellow torture survivor Salar (George Hashemzadeh) for counsel, with the bound, gagged and blindfolded man still stashed in a trunk in his van. Salar doesn’t want anything to do with Vahid’s rash actions but suggests he meet with another survivor, wedding photographer Shiva (Mariam Afshari), who happens to be taking pre-wedding photos of a woman who was also held captive, Goli (Hadis Pakbaten), and her soon-to-be-husband Ali (the director’s nephew Majid Panahi). Later, the volatile Hamid (Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr) is brought into the fold to really stir things up.

A persistently intriguing and riveting film, it asks us to cast our minds back over what we have already seen in a hunt for clues: did the couple at the start refer to each other by name? Was their anxiety and talk of an isolated existence anything to be suspicious of, or was it just a reflection of the strain of living under authoritarian rule?

It Was Just An Accident also considers the unreliability of memory and how confidently something can be discerned if we don’t see it for ourselves. Yet it also speaks to the power of our other senses and whether there are things we know in our bones because the impact has been felt so deeply.Working with a phenomenally convincing, mainly non-professional cast, Panahi draws us expertly into the group’s terrible dilemma, showing their differing perspectives and gradually revealing their individual experiences. Shiva presents herself as reasonable and non-violent, even differentiating between submissives and the system in terms of who is really to blame for their suffering.

On the other hand, hot-headed Hamid is hellbent on immediate action, with no room for doubt, reflection or consideration of their hostage’s own circumstances. Goli is willing to get sucked into this carnage on the eve of her wedding due to the severity of her ordeal, the memories of which come flooding back and prevent her from walking away. Only Salar is able to deny himself the opportunity for justice.

Essential for those who have lived under the Islamic Republic, along with those seeking to better understand its impact, It Was Just An Accident is a beautifully conceived, revenge fantasy of a film. It speaks volumes about a country ravaged by fear and intolerable restrictions and the psychological effect on survivors, who here refuse to be defined by their suffering yet are driven to emulate the enemy. This is cinema at its most angry, important and engaging.

It Was Just An Accident is in cinemas from Friday 5 December.