One of the Most Urgent Thrillers of 2025 Is Waiting to Be Discovered on Digital as Oscar Buzz Builds

1 week ago 14

Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has been writing for Collider for over two years, and has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal to introduce audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

Swing and a miss > measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him).

Probably the frontrunner to win the Best International Feature Oscar, director Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident is gaining steam on the domestic PVOD charts. The movie had a solid theatrical run a few weeks ago, courtesy of Neon, which holds the remarkable record of having distributed six Palme d'Or winners in a row. It Was Just an Accident is the latest film to have won the prestigious honor, and remains one of 2025's most acclaimed movies. It also made the crucial December shortlist for the Best International Feature category, as France's official submission. The Iranian-language film happens to be one of the most accessible of Panahi's legendary career, while retaining his trademark political commentary.

It follows a group of ex-political prisoners who happen to come across the guard who tormented them while they were incarcerated. What unfolds is a morality tale, where they kidnap the guard and debate about what they should do with him. It Was Just an Accident has grossed around $10 million at the box office, and has earned near-universal acclaim from critics. It currently holds a "certified fresh" 98% critics' score and a 92% audience score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, "Perhaps the most bluntly political film by Jafar Panahi yet, It Was Just an Accident is a defiant rebuke of authoritarianism that still delivers the entertainment value of a gripping thriller." According to JustWatch, it was one of the most popular titles on the domestic PVOD charts this week, when the leader board was topped by Paul Thomas Anderson's sprawling epic One Battle After Another.

Jafar Panahi Is Long Overdue an Oscar

In his review, Collider's Ross Bonaime wrote that It Was Just an Accident may be Panahi's "best work yet," and described it as "a film that is both deeply funny and immensely dark in its subject matter, a balance that the writer-director handles with a deft hand without ever sacrificing either." Panahi made the gripping thriller in secrecy, having been banned from filmmaking by Iran's oppressive regime. He was previously incarcerated for questioning the government and defying the bans imposed on him. Panahi has been sentenced to one year in prison again, and has said that he will return to Iran after completing his professional obligations to the film during the Oscars season. The international film community continues to stand in solidarity with the great director, who holds the rare distinction of having won the Golden Palm, the Golden Lion, the Golden Leopard, and the Golden Bear at the world's top film festivals during his career.

You can watch It Was Just an Accident at home, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.