It Was Just an Accident (2025) is Jafar Panahi’s critically acclaimed darkly comedic thriller/crime drama that explores the far-reaching social dimensions of trauma and spotlights the choice point we face in how we respond to it. Vahid, a former political prisoner living in Tehran identifies a hair-raising sound associated with the jailhouse abuse and indignities he suffered. This triggers an immediate somatic reaction and Vahid and his fellow political prisoner comrades gather to face the dilemma of whether to impose revenge on the man they believe to be their tormentor, known as “Peg Leg“ Eghbal. The film spins on the issue of how differently trauma shatters the mind and moral registration of each survivor, yet they must collectively decide: can traumatic memories be trusted, as none of them saw their torturer’s face. Do they run the risk of becoming the persecutor themselves and perpetuating evil through their thirst for revenge?

Please note:

Participants are requested to watch the film before arriving. The session will be structured around guided clinical discussion rather than summary, with facilitators and invited discussants drawing out the film’s psychoanalytic architecture in dialogue with the group.