Pop Culture Happy Hour: "Watch This: It Was Just An Accident"

NPR, January 21, 2026
Panelists: Glenn Weldon (Host), Aisha Harris (Co-host), Roxana Hadadi (Vulture TV Critic, Guest)

Episode Overview

This episode explores the acclaimed Iranian film It Was Just an Accident, directed by Jafar Panahi. Fresh from major festival wins and gathering Oscar momentum, the film’s intense meditations on vengeance, justice, and memory are put under the microscope by the Happy Hour panel. The discussion also delves into Panahi’s history with the Iranian regime, the nuances of filmmaking under repression, and what makes this film stand out both politically and cinematically.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Plot and Themes

• Film Summary:

  • Vaheed, a former political prisoner, runs into a man in Tehran he believes to be his torturer and kidnaps him, seeking a definitive identification from fellow ex-prisoners.
  • The film’s tension hinges on memory, doubt, and the blurring between vengeance and justice (00:42–01:00).

• Aisha Harris:

  • “This is, I think, one of my favorite movies of the year in part because it feels both very of the moment and very timeless...a great political film, but it's also a very great character study.” (03:43)
  • Praises Panahi’s ability to inject nuanced character moments and explores how relationships predate or are forged by imprisonment.

2. Director Jafar Panahi: Political and Artistic Urgency

• Political Context:

  • Panahi is a frequent target of the regime; his films are banned, and he’s repeatedly arrested. It Was Just an Accident was shot in secret (02:55–03:43).

• Guest: Roxana Hadadi:

  • Describes the film as a “fascinating work from someone who has now been imprisoned twice...has spoken quite a lot about the people that he met in prison and became close to.” (06:07–08:21)

• On Filmmaking Under Oppression:

  • Harris notes, “as bad as things have gotten here [in the U.S.], we still don't have to have our filmmakers working undercover in the same way.” (11:16)
  • Roxana marvels at Panahi’s evolution from docudramas under a filmmaking ban to this more fully narrative approach (08:21).

3. Genre, Tone, and Structure

• Glenn Weldon:

  • “It is absolutely a political thriller. It is absolutely a character study. It is also hilarious.” (05:16)
  • Emphasizes how the film refuses easy genre categorization, blending drama, political urgency, and moments of absurdity.

• On Vengeance in Cinema:

  • “Hollywood can serve it up...in a really pulpy way...but this film is honest because it sets out to dig under all that calcification...and just make us sit with the moral question itself. Not a cinematic take on the moral question, but just like the question itself, bare, unflinching.” (08:21)
  • Praises the film for denying viewers a simple cathartic ending.

4. Craft: Characterization and Cinematic Technique

• The film’s use of sense and memory as tools for identification (“Vaheed thinks he remembers this man by the sound of his prosthetic leg, while another...by his scent and still another by feeling the scars on his leg.” – Glenn, 13:17).
• Long, claustrophobic takes inside the van keep the tension high (13:17).
• “Sometimes in the same scene they feel like they're right and they're wrong and they're everything in between.” (13:17)

5. Ambiguous Ending & Multiple Interpretations

• The panel discusses the film’s ending as ambiguous and open to multiple interpretations, a hallmark of Panahi’s storytelling (12:08–13:17).
• “You're gonna be trying to work out the film for a while. Both its politics and what it might be advocating for and also what it might be saying just about like human nature in general.” – Roxana (12:08)

6. The Film’s Place in Iranian and Global Cinema

• Harris and Hadadi compare Panahi’s approach with other Iranian filmmakers critical of the regime, arguing that It Was Just an Accident is “more nuanced and complicated than some of its peers.” (15:16)

7. Oscar Prospects and Industry Impact

• Oscar Discussion:

  • Weldon: “If this movie gets a nomination for international feature and or for best director or best screenplay...thousands and thousands of more people are gonna seek this film out.” (16:50)
  • Hadadi explains complications around which countries can submit films for Oscar contention due to Panahi’s exile and political status (19:17).

• Symbolic Value:

  • “For a movie like this, this is the Oscars at its best. Right. It gets those eyeballs on it.” – Aisha (18:20)
  • Hadadi notes that Panahi’s post-production work in France enabled the film to be submitted by France, highlighting broader issues for refugee filmmakers (19:17).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Roxana Hadadi (on the film’s layered comedy and absurdity):

  • “Everyone you meet is asking you for a tip. That's really funny...it’s tackling these huge questions of like, who owns a country?...I think that's probably something a lot of people around the world can relate to in this current moment.” (06:07)

• Glenn Weldon (on vengeance in cinema):

  • “Both of those [popular approaches] have, of course, calcified into cliché now. And whenever you see them, you're just reminded that you're watching a movie, kind of movie you've seen a million times...this film is honest because it sets out to dig under all that calcification.” (08:21)

• Aisha Harris (on Panahi and film under repression):

  • “Just this idea of this being a movie made kind of in secret, I think lends itself a very special nature.” (11:30)

• On the film’s ending:

  • “I realized that I interpret it in the darkest way possible, which is very me. And there are other avenues to interpret it that I did not avail myself of.” – Glenn (13:17)

Important Segments and Timestamps

• Film synopsis and context: 00:42–03:43
• Initial reactions (Aisha Harris & Roxana Hadadi): 03:43–05:16
• On genre fluidity and humor in the film: 05:16–08:21
• Vengeance in global/Hollywood context: 08:21–10:03
• Comparisons to earlier Panahi works and American cinematic context: 10:03–12:08
• Ambiguity, character analysis, and the ending’s impact: 12:08–13:17
• Place in Iranian cinema and international comparisons: 15:16–16:01
• Oscar race dynamics, challenges for exiled filmmakers: 16:50–20:23

Closing Thoughts

The panel strongly recommends It Was Just an Accident for its meticulous craft, urgent politics, and emotional complexity. The conversation underscores not only the film’s creative achievement but also its global resonance—both as a work of art and as a testament to resilience in the face of oppression.

“This is such a complicated and wonderful movie that more people need to see whether that happens because it gets a bunch of nods or maybe because, you know, you listened to this episode and heard smart people like Roxanna and Aisha talk about it.” – Glenn Weldon (20:23)

For listeners inspired by the discussion, the panel encourages sharing interpretations of the film’s ending on Facebook and Letterboxd.