It Was Just an Accident ending analyzed: A sinister sound that will haunt a victim forever

Jafar Panahi's latest thriller, It Was Just an Accident has an ending that will give you the chills if you watch it from the point of view of a tortured prisoner. An apt description of this movie in one line could actually be this: "A squeaking sound of walking that brings back the memories of torture."

It stars Vahid Mobasseri as Vahid, Mariam Afshari as Shiva, Ebrahim Azizi as Eghbal, among others. The film won the Palme d'Or earlier this year and is set to make it to the Oscars for the 98th Academy Awards.

Azizi's character, Eghbal, is at the center of the story. He is shown to have a dark past, but is now seemingly living a normal, civilian life. Or is he?

Analyzing what happens at the end of It Was Just an Accident?

Vahid, who has been a prisoner in the past, was tortured by a man who goes by the nickname Peg Leg because of his prosthetic leg. This man is none other than Eghbal. The last scene in It Was Just an Accident is a squeaking sound of someone walking, someone with a prosthetic leg.

As soon as Vahid hears the sound, he is traumatized. If you look from the point of view of Vahid, it becomes quite clear why he elicits such a reaction.

Vahid was tortured by Eghbal when he was a prisoner, and it is obvious that the squeaking sound of walking reverberated each time he approached Vahid. The sound triggered all the trauma that Vahid suffered at the hands of Eghbal.

The opening scene sets the theme of It Was Just an Accident

It Was Just an Accident begins with Eghbal driving a car accompanied by his family. It's dark, and he hits a dog on the road. He isn't dead, but the poor animal is in pain, a direct correlation to the pain Eghbal has inflicted on his victims in the past.

Although he doesn't say this, after the accident, his reaction, a shrug, simply implies that he thinks it was just an accident. Later, in the movie, he is kidnapped by Vahid, who recognizes the sound of his walk.

At this moment, Eghbal is a man who begs Vahid not to kill him and says he isn't who Vahid thinks he is. But this tormented victim of Eghbal isn't buying that, so he investigates him while keeping him as a hostage. During this, he comes across other victims, this leading to the revelation of Eghbal's identity at the end of the film.

Peg Leg then tells them that he was just doing his duty and that all of it wasn't intentional, as he had to provide for his family, almost as if, it was all just an accident.