It Was Just an Accident

A man with a prosthetic leg drives a car at night with his wife and daughter and accidentally hits and kills a dog. The family is shaken by the crash and the event unsettles everyone. The incident becomes a catalyst for the looming confrontation.

At a nearby garage, the mechanic Vahid recognizes the man by the distinctive squeak of his prosthetic leg after the man speaks to his mother on the phone. The moment confirms a link to a past tormentor and increases the tension. Suspicion hardens into a resolve to uncover the truth.

The next day, Vahid follows the man, abducts him, and tries to bury him in the desert. He aims to confront the man about his identity and past actions. The desert night looms as they move toward a reckoning.

Vahid tells the captive that he recognized him as Eghbal, the former prison tormentor. The man denies it, begging not to be killed and arguing that his leg scars are recent. The confrontation probes who he really is and what he has done.

Vahid places the unconscious man in his van and seeks help at Salar’s bookshop. Salar refuses to identify him directly but points him toward someone who might know. The search for truth becomes a reluctant alliance of strangers.

Shiva, a photographer, recognizes the scent of the man as Eghbal but is unsure due to how they were blindfolded during torture. She hesitates to confirm, weighing memory against uncertainty. The danger of misidentification weighs on them.

Goli reveals she was tortured by Eghbal too, but cannot definitively confirm the captive’s identity. They seek out Hamid, Shiva’s former partner, for help in naming the man. The group becomes more entangled in a moral maze.

Hamid drugs the captive and plugs his ears, insisting on killing him immediately. Vahid and Shiva restrain him, insisting they first hear a proper testimony. The tension erupts as competing demands for justice collide.

A cellphone rings from the man’s body, and his daughter speaks, claiming that his pregnant wife has fainted. The personal stakes of the man’s life become undeniable. The group realizes the man may still be connected to a larger family drama.

The group visits the man’s house and drives his daughter and wife to a hospital, where the mother gives birth to a son. News of the birth adds a humanizing counterpoint to the brutality of the interrogation. The captive’s ties to a family become a key part of the moral calculus.

Hamid, Goli, and Ali grow frustrated and decide to leave Vahid and Shiva behind. The remaining two press on with the captive’s testimony in a quieter, more intimate setting. The split underscores differing ideas of justice.

Vahid and Shiva drive the man to a quiet, remote location at night, tie him to a tree, wake him, and demand that he testify. The stark setting heightens the moral weight of the confrontation. The man begins to crack under pressure.

The man first claims mistaken identity, then concedes that he is Eghbal, arguing his actions served the regime and that killing him would make him a martyr. The confession reframes the moral stakes of the past. The witnesses press for accountability.

Vahid and Shiva recount their torment to Eghbal and tell him that his wife has given birth to a son. Shiva demands an apology, and after a tense exchange, he apologizes, claiming he was only trying to survive. A measure of resolution emerges, though it comes with cost.

Vahid frees Eghbal and drives away with Shiva. As they depart, a white car similar to Eghbal’s appears, and the sound of Eghbal’s squeaky prosthetic leg nears, hinting at a lingering threat. The ending leaves the viewer unsettled about what comes next.