IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT: If Revenge Can’t Say No to Empathy?

Humans have a wide range of feelings. That is, unless you have to shut them down. Jafar Panahi’s 2025 thriller, It Was Just an Accident, showcases the extremes via the many emotions roiling around in various characters in the film. Rage. Revenge. Confusion. Uncertainty. Disorientation. Agitation. Even, surprise, surprise: Empathy. Yes, sometimes it’s not an accident when revenge (even with good reasons to feel hate and vengeful desires) can’t say “no” to empathy...

What starts it all in It Was Just an Accident is an accident that reunites two people, setting off an explosion of feelings. These feelings display the complexity of what’s hidden in the aftermath of trauma.  Because the two people who meet again? One is the torturer. The other, the abused.

The Accident That Starts It 

As the film It Was Just an Accident begins, a distracted, shut-down man hits a dog while driving with his wife and daughter down dark streets. Killing an innocent dog sends his young daughter into big feelings, in contrast to her father’s lack of them. She had been dancing happily in the back seat, but now the poor dog is whimpering. The daughter (Delnaz Najafi) has empathy. Her father (Ebrahim Azizi) does not. She yells, “He killed a dog!” Her pregnant mom (Afssaneh Najmabadi) rationalizes: “Sweetheart, the road isn’t lit. Poor animals get run over. It was just an accident. What will be will be. God surely put it in our path for a reason.” The daughter screams: “He killed a dog. God has nothing to do with it ...” The engine stalls. “Another sign,” says Mom.

Mom’s right. There is certainly a cosmic plan for her husband. The car needs help. And, Egbahl ends up in the automotive shop where Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) works. Vahid recognizes him. At least he thinks he does. This man has a prosthetic leg. He must be Peg Leg. There couldn’t be another man with a peg leg, could there? He must be the man who tormented him in prison.

Peg Leg leaves. Vahid’s trauma returns. All the rage he numbed while trying to live a normal life after his release overwhelms him. He follows Peg Leg and kidnaps him. He deserves to die, right?

Revenge & Confusion (An Unlikely Pair) 

Vahid is consumed with vengeance. In the heat of it, he can’t think, in It Was Just an Accident. (Is anything an accident? Not when it leads somewhere, especially to healing.) Vahid acts on a mad impulse. He ties him up. Beats him. Takes him to the desert. Frantically digs a grave. “I’m burying you, you filthy bastard.” “No! Stop it! I can’t breathe. I have a family. Take my card, withdraw what you like.” “Rashid. S... That’s your name? Wasn’t Egbahl a good enough name? It’s shorter. Snappier.” Peg Leg lies. Pleads. Denies being Egbahl. Says his prosthetic leg is from a recent injury. 

“Do you think you could blindfold us, and we wouldn’t recognize your voice? I’d know the squeak of your artificial leg anywhere. That atrocious sound still rings in my ears. Do you think I’m stupid? It’s obsessed me for years. You ruined my life, asshole.”  BUT. Vahid is now consumed with doubt.

He can’t kill the wrong man, can he? He needs confirmation. Back up. Proof. Now he’s confused. Discombobulated. Scared out of his wits; has he made a terrible mistake? He goes for help. Salar (George Hashemzadeh) will know. Vahid stuffs Egbahl (or whoever he is ... Rahsid?) in the trunk of his van and heads over to Salar, who was a prisoner with Vahid. Certainly, Salar will know.

Revenge and uncertainty. An unlikely pair. Or is it? Sure, Vahid wants revenge against the man who tortured him. Now’s his chance. But Vahid has morals. He’s a decent man. Not prone to the instinct to bury a man alive. He wants to. Yes, he sure does. That would be justice, wouldn’t it?

Yet, despite Peg Leg deserving retribution (or does he, asks Vahid’s conscience?), the wrong man would prey on his principles. He couldn’t live with that. Perhaps not even what he’s already done.

He pleads with Salar: “Help me identify him!” But, Salar (Vahid’s conscience), says this about burying Peg Leg alive: “It’s your ideals you’d be burying.” Vahid says he doesn’t care anymore. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t. He’s going to finish this. At least that’s what his rage tells him.

A Conflict with Your Morals 

Vahid has morals. Now he’s in conflict. As angry and tormented as he is, he’s not like Peg Leg.

If you’re like Peg Leg/Egbahl (or is it Rashid?), you don’t feel any conflict with your morals. That’s because you’ve had to shut them down for whatever reasons you have. Trauma can do that. He has to believe that he did it “for the regime.” Or that “it was just his job.” And he needed that job to survive. So, he can’t feel. For others, either. He lost his conscience, buried it to do what he did.

Survival can have that effect on some people. Like Peg Leg. Or Hamid (Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr). Who is tied in knots with rage and a wish to even the score, not only with Peg Leg. But because of Shiva (Mariam Afshari), who cast him aside. She hurt him. The bridal pair is too much to see.

There’s a lot of conflict in our struggling crew. That’s not an accident in It Was Just an Accident.

Gathering The Likely Troop 

Salar, who keeps his morals, sends Vahid to Shiva. She, too, was tortured by Peg Leg. She’s tried to move on. After all, she’s a successful photographer, photographing a bridal couple, dressed in bridal garb. BUT. It’s tempting when here is Peg Leg, now in a helpless position, like she was as his prisoner. Plus, the bride, Golrokh (Hadis Pakbaten), also suffered at Peg Leg’s hands. Her groom, Ali (Majid Panahi)? No, but he’ll do anything for his bride. And, Hamid. He’s a no-brainer. His fuse is short, already. He’ll push them to get the job done. And, he, among all the others, is certain.

This is the likely troop. All of them say this about Peg Leg: “He ruined my life.” And when someone torments you. Traumatizes you. Instills constant terror. Makes you helpless. This has a lasting impact. So, no wonder they are all game to kill Peg Leg (the Gimp) and turn the tables on him. What a stroke of luck, isn’t it? That he is now their prisoner? They can do to him what they please.

Not so fast, though. Murder is a serious act. They aren’t like Peg Leg. They have a lot of different feelings. Feelings that go this way and that way, all over the place, in It Was Just an Accident.  

Feelings All Over the Place 

Yes, humans have a lot of different feelings. And these spring into play in the befuddled group trying to figure out if this prisoner is Peg Leg – and what to do with him if he is or he isn’t. Every one of them – except the Groom – was Peg Leg’s victim. So, a lot is riding on their decision. But can they commit murder? Even if they think it’s him. They aren’t sure. Except, that is, for Hamid.

Trauma is serious business. As they’ve all said, it can ruin a life. Yet, the way they all run around. Go this way and that. Are taken in one direction and then another, plays out like a comedy of human error (even though it isn’t really funny). A disorderly group with so many confusing feelings, they don’t know what to do with them. That’s what makes trauma so very overwhelming.

Because of: Fear. Hate. Confusion. Anger. Humiliation. Uncertainty. Guilt. Vahid says, “I can’t afford to kill him.” (He’s scared it’s not Peg Leg.) That makes Hamid go crazy (crazy is trauma too): “Sure, it’s him. How many guys have a leg cut off in the same place with the same scars on the other leg? He made me feel it.” Disgust. That’s also a trauma reaction when you’ve been violated.

Yes, it’s no-holds-barred for Hamid. This is Peg Leg. It doesn’t matter that he was blindfolded. During imprisonment, Hamid had his senses. He felt that leg. He feels it now. He’s filled with Rage.

Rage is a primary feeling after trauma, buried or not. We see that, in It Was Just an Accident.

Crazed With Rage & Hate 

For a while, rage drives the whole mission. Rage is understandable. BUT. Now, the feelings they numbed in the aftermath of their trauma (a normal trauma response, too) are all a part of this mission. (Maybe we could say that It Was Just an Accident’s mission is healing, not murder?)

They are all crazed with rage and hate. Even if it’s mostly Hamid who so purely expresses the rage. Confusion interferes with completing this revenge operation. A lot of confusion. Is this Peg Leg? Or isn’t it? What are the consequences of murder? They drive around like crazed maniacs. Arguing about what to do and how to do it. Arguing because they can’t get on the same page. The bride and groom are on the outs. He doesn’t understand trauma. He didn’t go through it. She’s upset.

And, Hamid is consumed with jealousy. Shiva trusts Vahid because Salar sent him. He hates Vahid because of this, even if not as much as he hates Peg Leg. And Vahid’s waffling is getting in his way. Hot-headed, Hamid carries the prisoner back to the truck and tries to drive off with him alone. Shiva confronts him: “He didn’t kill you.” Hamid has no empathy: “Of course, he did. Those sons of bitches stole the best years of my life.” But Shiva’s hate is weakening a bit. And, so is Vahid’s.

Empathy Breaks Through 

Vahid’s empathy begins to break through. He never lost it. Not really. It’s what he needed when he was Peg Leg’s prisoner. It’s not what he got, though. None, in fact. And torture instead of empathy can make you abandon your real self. Hopefully, only temporarily. For Vahid, a child’s need, a child’s terror, returns him to the feelings he’s ignored. The empathy that turns him around.

That child is Peg Leg’s daughter. When Peg Leg’s phone rings, Vahid answers it. A little girl is scared. Her pregnant mom fainted. She needs help. Her dad said to only call him. Where is her dad? She’s not supposed to talk to or trust strangers. Can she trust Vahid? Turns out, yes, she can.

And, maybe now, Vahid can trust all of his feelings, not just his hate and wish for revenge. He interrupts the mission to bury Peg Leg. He goes to Peg Leg’s house. Rescues the wife and daughter. Sits with the child at the hospital. Soothes her. Witnesses Peg Leg’s baby son right after he’s born.

Well. How can he kill this man? He’s gone against the troop to be a human being. To care about others, even Peg Leg’s next of kin. So, murder? Maybe not. Maybe a confession would do, instead.

(Risky) Grief Finally Felt  

It’s a risk to feel grief. It’s what they’ve all been fighting off. The pain of remembering and feeling the trauma, the losses, the torment, the hurt, the guilt. Facing it can sometimes feel like too much.

Feeling grief, though, is what they need. So, is it an accident, in It Was Just an Accident, that Javid and Shiva come full circle to grief when they go back to Peg Leg? What they really want is an apology. To feel he regrets how he treated them. To have him confess. Then, they’d know he was Peg Leg for sure. Then, maybe, they can let him go. BUT. More importantly, they can heal.

They demand a confession. Peg Leg has his rationalizations and excuses. You know. He did it for the regime. He had to make a living. Things like that. Reasons for turning off his feelings. Shiva forces the confession and an apology. Pushes Peg Leg even to his own limit. She’s crying. So is he. Both of them sob hard. Peg Leg keeps saying, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” in between his sobs.

And then we witness Peg Leg’s own trauma. Humiliation. “When you refused to confess (in prison), I felt humiliated. I thought you were making fun of me. Just like when I was little. I’m sorry. I swear. I had a guilty conscience. But I got used to it.” Peg Leg doesn’t feel whole. Not a full man. Humiliating others is his defense. His revenge. These people dare to humiliate him? In his mind, they deserve what they get. He had his cause to stand for. But he can be torn down.

Humiliation That Won’t (?) Let Up 

Yes, in this moment, Peg Leg’s defenses are torn down. So are Vahid’s and Shiva’s. He pleads to see his son. They let him go. Really, their mission is accomplished. They got the truth. The apology. Vahid and Shiva can go on. BUT. Can Peg Leg? Humiliation is powerful for some. Hard to get over.

And, Peg Leg’s been humiliated again. Made to feel small. Weak. In admitting his guilt. Can he withstand that? Will he want revenge again? We hear his footsteps, the unmistakable Peg Legged footsteps, behind an unsuspecting Vahid, in a dark place. Then, they seem to retreat. It wasn’t an accident, for Vahid, that his wish for revenge couldn’t say “no” to empathy. But can Peg Leg leave Vahid alone? Will he let what is be? Or will his humiliation get the best of him one more time? That can happen after trauma. And, we are left wondering ... at the end of It Was Just an Accident.