It’s from Iran, so it has to be great, right? From writer/director Jafar Panahi, who has been imprisoned and banned from making films, comes a drama-thriller that is so provocative and controversial it unsurprisingly received rave reviews on the festival circuit and is considered an Oscar contender. And yet, there’s nothing provocative or controversial or Oscar contender-y about this shrug-worthy effort.

It Was Just an Accident is a technically well-crafted film that would work better as a stage play than it does a cinematic experience. A morality play about a mechanic named Vahid who kidnaps a man he believes was the guard who tortured and traumatized him and others while held in an Iranian political prison. The man, who has a pregnant wife and daughter, denies he’s the culprit, setting in motion a spiraling of events that draws more of Vahid’s friends and family into the increasingly unclear vortex of moral ambiguity. 

Vahid Mobasseri delivers a fine performance as–yes–Vahid, and all around the cast brings Panahi’s script to life with vibrancy. Panahi’s central question–what is the just thing to do when someone has done unjust things to you?--is a compelling one, compounded by the lack of clarity around whether the victim at hand is innocent or guilty.

But It Was Just an Accident goes to familiar places, playing out almost entirely as you’d expect. Panahi seems to think he’s made something profound, but it feels small and unnecessary. The concept is interesting, but stretched over nearly two hours it becomes increasingly tedious and repetitive. Pretty much everything you expect to happen will (which isn’t a whole lot), and the climax is exactly how I wrote it in my mind going in.

It Was Just an Accident will appeal to those fascinated by high-brow cinema from repressive societies, but there just isn’t much here. While not without its entertainment value, this critic’s recommendation is to only stumble into this one by accident.

Review by Erik Samdahl. Erik is a marketing and technology executive by day, avid movie lover by night. He is a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society.