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

Jafar Panahi's latest thriller film, titled It Was Just an Accident, has an ending that, if seen from the point of view of a tortured prisoner, will give you the chills. A squeaking sound of walking that brings back the memories of torture. Though it is not necessarily set in stone that a victim (or the audience) is experiencing fear.

It stars Vahid Mobasseri as Vahid, Mariam Afshari as Shiva, Ebrahim Azizi as Eghbal, among others. Panahi had difficulty producing it, but it is here; after winning the Palme d'Or earlier this year, the film is on its way to the Oscars stage for the 98th Academy Awards.

Azizi's character, Eghbal, is at the center of the story, who can, as well as cannot, be viewed as an antagonist. He is known to have done some bad deeds in the past, but now, as we see, he is seemingly living a normal, civilian life. Or maybe just hiding from the past, living in fear of dying at the hands of people he tortured back in the day.

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 this sound reaches Vahid's ears, he becomes afraid as if something sinister is approaching him. If you look from the point of view of Vahid, it becomes quite clear why he elicits such a reaction.

Vahid, as a prisoner, was tortured by Eghbal, and it is obvious that the squeaking sound of walking reverberated each time he approached Vahid. The sound triggered the traumatic memories of Vahid as a prisoner, who had 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 someone on the road. He looks at it, and turns out, it's a dog. He isn't dead, but the poor animal is in pain. Just like 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 also comes across other victims as well, and Eghbal's identity is eventually revealed 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. That is also like saying: it was just an accident.