Review: It Was Just An Accident (Patreon)

Jafar Panahi's It Was Just An Accident is modern-day samizdat, a film whose clandestine and elicit production is evident in every frame. The film is shot in nooks and alcoves; it is a film that demands to be seen but is afraid to be seen in production. Panahi's hatred of his regime is shared by his characters, who live their lives in the shadows, fighting the regime while trying desperately not to be shot in an alley.

That's not to say It Was Just An Accident is didactic. It's a straightforward thriller (a lazier critic might not inaccurately call it Hitchcockian), exploring the bizarre if identifiable courses of action people take when their lives have been destroyed. There's no great moment of grandstanding; the characters' finest moments come in risky but humble moral acts. It is life: terrible, risky, and often funny. Seriously, this is one of the funniest pieces of samizdat I've ever seen. Hamid is a joy. See this as soon as you can.