We need to keep making and releasing art critical of oppressive regimes across the world now more than ever. Exiled Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi’s IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT is hard-hitting but darkly comic and always rooted in authentic human experiences. When Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) a former prisoner of the state by chance spots a man he thinks was his chief torturer, he resolves to take his revenge, and recruits a gang of fellow victims of authoritarian violence to help him do it. But how much do they really remember through a cloud of pain and torment? Panahi’s improvisational, always-on-the-move filming style necessitated by his fugitive status adds a sense of urgency beyond the film itself, which is taut and emotional and filled with gallows humour. Panahi’s entire filmography is well worth diving into if you’re not familiar, but It Was Just An Accident makes for a fantastically twisted introduction to his oeuvre. SSP
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Review in Brief: Eddington (2025)
Neo-Western EDDINGTON gives its audience the usual Ari Aster anxiety attack but pairs it with some biting satire about fake news and mob mentality and an unexpectedly action-packed final act. During Covid Lockdown, a sheriff in a New Mexico town (Joaquin Phoenix) clashes with the incumbent mayor (Pedro Pascal) and various protestors while conspiracy theories begin to warp his concept of reality. This is very much a twisted vibes movie which really just got to go with and accept you will be lost at one point or the next. Much like with INHERENT VICE, Phoenix seems to be the go-to lead for a story where the whole film responds to its protagonist’s fractured state of mind, and the ways in which he locks horns with supporting players like Deidre O’Connell and Pedro Pascal is mesmerising. This probably has a few too many ideas even for a 150 minute movie, but this further emphasises Aster’s distinct, sometimes frustrating directorial voice. SSP
SSP Thinks Film 