It Was Just an Accident 2025

One night, a man with a prosthetic leg drives home with his wife and daughter, only to hit and kill a dog. To repair his car, he visits a nearby garage where Vahid Vahid Mobasseri recognizes him from the distinctive sound of his prosthetic leg after he speaks to his mother on the phone. The next day, Vahid trails the man, abducts him, and tries to bury him in the desert. He tells him that he recognized his voice and stumbling walk as that of Eghbal ([Ebrahim Azizi]), his former tormentor in an Iranian prison. The man denies being Eghbal and begs not to be killed, insisting that the scars on his leg are recent, unlike Eghbal’s.

Doubting the man’s identity, Vahid places his unconscious body into the van and visits Salar George Hashemzadeh at a bookshop. Salar refuses to help identify the man but directs him to a photographer named Shiva Mariam Afshari, who is in the middle of taking wedding photos of Goli and Ali, an engaged couple to be married the next day. Reluctant to assist, Shiva recognizes the smell of the man as that of Eghbal but remains unsure due to the fact that they were blindfolded during their torture. Goli reveals she was also tortured by Eghbal but cannot confirm his identity, so they seek out Hamid Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr, Shiva’s former partner, and drug the captive before plugging his ears.

Hamid instantly identifies the man as Eghbal after touching his legs and urges killing him immediately, but Vahid and Shiva restrain him, wanting a formal testimony first. At that moment, a cellphone rings from the man’s body. Vahid answers and hears the man’s daughter, who says that her pregnant mother has fainted. The group visits the man’s house and drives his daughter and her mother to a hospital, where the mother gives birth to a son.

Frustrated, Hamid, Goli, and Ali decide to leave Vahid and Shiva behind. The remaining two drive the man to a quiet location at night, tie him to a tree, wake him, and demand a confession. The man initially again claims mistaken identity, but then concedes that he is Eghbal, arguing that his actions were justified for the good of the Iranian regime and that killing him would only make him a martyr. Vahid and Shiva recount the torment they endured and tell him that his wife has given birth to a son. Shiva insists that Eghbal apologize, and after a tense exchange, he relents and apologizes, claiming he was only trying to make a living. Vahid then frees Eghbal and drives away with Shiva.

Later, Vahid and his mother prepare the van for his sister. A white car, similar to Eghbal’s, enters the area as Vahid moves through the house to retrieve something. The familiar squeak of Eghbal’s prosthetic leg grows louder, approaching the scene.