It Was Just An Accident12A

Directed by Jafar Panahi | France/Iran/Luxembourg | 2025 | 1h 44m | Persian w/ English subtitles | Starring Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi

Azerbaijani car mechanic Vahid still bears the scars of his past when he was imprisoned and interrogated blindfolded by Iranian authorities. One day, after a road accident, a man named Eghbal enters his workshop with a creaking prosthetic leg. Vahid is struck by a chilling thought: could this be one of his former torturers? As suspicion turns to obsession, he begins to contemplate revenge. After years of censorship and imprisonment, award-winning filmmaker Jafar Panahi returns with a tense and unforgettable thriller which won the Palme d’Or (Best Film) at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.

Reviews

Panahi holds this tonal range expertly as laughs give away to a probing, philosophical third act that upends expectations in quietly thrilling style.’
★★★★★
Philip De Semlyen, The Times

‘It’s another very impressive serio-comic film from one of the most distinctive and courageous figures in world cinema.’
★★★★
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Sorry - you missed it!

We showed It Was Just An Accident between December 19, 2025 and January 8, 2026.

Join our mailing list and we'll make sure you always know what's on and when.

What else is on?

Today (Wednesday 22nd April)

14:45

Two Prosecutors 12A
1h 58m | Russian & Ukrainian w/ English subtitles
Soviet Union, 1937. Amidst rampant injustice, a prisoner’s letter reaches prosecutor Alexander Kornyev, igniting a pursuit of truth in a totalitarian system. Sergei Loznitsa’s gripping historical drama, based on Georgy Demidov’s novel, starkly explores stifling Soviet bureaucracy and state oppression.

Book here

17:30

The Magic Faraway Tree U
1h 50m
The Thompson children discover a magical tree leading to fantastical lands. Facing quirky inhabitants and wondrous adventures, they reconnect and grow closer. Enid Blyton’s beloved classic comes to life in this enchanting adaptation starring Andrew Garfield, Nicola Coughlan, and Claire Foy.

Book here

20:00

Innocent Sorcerers 12A
1h 26m | Polish w/ English subtitles
A jazz-filled night of flirtation captures Poland’s modern, disillusioned youth in Andrzej Wajda’s French New Wave-inspired social portrait. Part of Kinoteka On Tour – Polish Film Festival.

Book here


Tomorrow (Thursday 23rd April)

15:15

The Magic Faraway Tree U
1h 50m
The Thompson children discover a magical tree leading to fantastical lands. Facing quirky inhabitants and wondrous adventures, they reconnect and grow closer. Enid Blyton’s beloved classic comes to life in this enchanting adaptation starring Andrew Garfield, Nicola Coughlan, and Claire Foy.

Book here

17:45

Dead Man's Wire 15
1h 46m
In 1977, businessman Tony Kiritsis takes a mortgage broker hostage with a deadly “dead man’s switch,” demanding millions and an apology. Gus Van Sant’s tense, darkly comic thriller brings this bizarre true story to life with Bill Skarsgård, Al Pacino, and Colman Domingo.

Book here

20:15

NTLive: All My Sons 12A
2h 31m
A family faces the cost of ambition as wartime profits, criminal charges, and a missing son test them. Bryan Cranston and Marianne Jean-Baptiste lead this live West End filming of Arthur Miller’s classic, directed by Ivo Van Hove.

Book here


Plan your visit

Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!