Passes the Bechdel test

It Was Just an Accident

Name: It Was Just an Accident
Released: 2025

2025. Directed by Jafar Panahi, written by Jafar Panahi and Nader Saeivar and Shadmehr Rastin.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
8 women characters. 2 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 33.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.

The film

SPOILER: While driving home to the countryside at night with his pregnant wife and young daughter, Eghbal runs over a dog. The car breaks down, and Eghbal stops in front of a garage. There, Vahid, a car mechanic, thinks he recognizes, from the sound of his prosthetic leg creaking, one of his former torturers from when he was detained by the Iranian authorities. After following him to find out where he lived, the next day Vahid knocks the man he suspects unconscious, kidnaps him, and takes him to the desert with the intention of burying him alive. While carrying out his plan, he begins to doubt Eghbal's guilt, who cries out that he has never worked in a prison and only lost his leg the previous year. However, during his detention, Vahid was always interrogated blindfolded. He pulls Eghbal from the hole, loads him into his van, and returns to Tehran to seek the advice of Salar, a bookseller. Salar directs Vahid to Shiva, whom he finds taking wedding photographs for his friend Golrokh and her fiancé Ali. Shiva and Golrokh were also imprisoned and tortured at the same time as Vahid. The young couple and the photographer get into the van and go to find Hamid, Shiva's ex-partner, also a former victim of Eghbal who has retained a very violent streak. They return to the desert. But the four former prisoners of the torturer are divided on what should happen to him, especially since Eghdal continues to vehemently deny everything.

Released: 15 Oct 2025
Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7.4 / 10
Metascore: 91 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars. 41 wins & 135 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Shiva 112 lines, woman
Vahid 109 lines, man
Hamid 64 lines, man
Niloufar 32 lines, woman
Golrokh 29 lines, woman
Eghbal 24 lines, man
Ali 23 lines, man
Man 16 lines, man
Hospital Receptionist 15 lines
Salar 12 lines, man

Full cast, 24 people

Vahid Mobasseri as Vahid
Mariam Afshari as Shiva
Ebrahim Azizi as Eghbal
Hadis Pakbaten as Golrokh
Majid Panahi as Ali
Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr as Hamid
George Hashemzadeh as Salar
Delmaz Najafi as Eghbal's Daughter
Afsaneh Najm Abadi as Eghbal's Wife
Omid Reza as Vahid's Colleague
Ali Rastegari as The Doctor
Mohsen Maleki as Security Guard
Amir Youssefi as Gas Station Attendant
Negin Arbabi as Nurse
Elmira Ziaï Sigaroudi as Maternity Ward Nurse
Youssef Anvari Varjavi as Pharmacist
Sedigheh Saidi as Vahid's Mother
Malineh Panahi as Vahid's Aunt
Reza Hakimi as Bookseller
Ali Mirshekari as Accordeonist
Ali Asghar Mirshekari as Tombak Drummer
Siamak Shabanzadeh as The Tow Truck Driver
Zahra Rahimi as Vahid's Neighbor
Liana Azizifard as The Neighbors' Little Girl

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 33

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers

Scenes	Women's lines	Men's lines
1 to 1	0	0
2 to 2	14	30
3 to 3	0	0
4 to 4	0	0
5 to 5	0	14
6 to 6	0	0
7 to 7	0	0
8 to 8	0	21
9 to 9	0	1
10 to 10	0	0
11 to 11	17	9
12 to 12	22	13
13 to 13	2	2
14 to 14	0	0
15 to 15	2	2
16 to 16	3	5
17 to 17	21	29
18 to 18	10	14
19 to 19	4	9
20 to 20	0	0
21 to 21	1	11
22 to 22	8	10
23 to 23	24	37
24 to 24	5	4
25 to 25	3	2
26 to 26	14	6
27 to 27	7	4
28 to 28	5	15
29 to 29	2	5
30 to 30	0	0
31 to 31	2	2
32 to 32	14	33
33 to 33	0	2

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scene

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

GOLROKH: So it’s nothing more than a personal problem now?… Let me tell you this… If this scumbag doesn’t talk, you’ll see my corpse at my wedding to… SHIVA: Can you spare a cigarette? SHIVA: So, what do you plan to do now?