While driving home on a dark road, a father admonishes his young daughter for playing music too loud, telling her they have to be considerate of their neighbors.
“It’s not done,” he says.
It is a rote moment of parenting that quickly becomes an ominous echo in Jafar Panahi’s “It Was Just Accident,” coming to The Triplex this week.
When the man and his family pull into a mechanic’s shop to repair their car, Vahar, one of the employees, hears the clicking of the man’s prosthetic leg and becomes convinced he is the intelligence officer who tortured him in an Iranian prison.
A hasty abduction ensues, but doubt creeps in as Vahar wonders if this is really the man. He reaches out to a network of fellow survivors to help confirm the captive’s identity, pulling a thread that quickly unravels their fragile, reconstructed lives.
Panahi places us squarely in the midst of the survivor’s decision-making, often leaving the camera still, creating an obstructed view as the characters move in and out of frame. There is no music to pump up the drama here either—he instead relies on the rustle of nature, the whir of traffic, and other noises from a world moving on that highlights the isolation of these characters.
As the moral complications pile up, the benefits of revenge blur to abstraction. Panahi, a director who has been repeatedly jailed and tortured for his work by the Iranian regime, instead finds power and beauty in absolution during the film’s stunning ending. Forgiveness will not rid the world of evil, but it may be the only way to survive it.
Now Playing
“Zootopia 2”
Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) are back on the case in “Zootopia 2,” Disney Animation’s follow-up to 2016’s smash hit family film! Following the twisting trail of a mysterious reptile who arrives in Zootopia and turns the mammal metropolis upside down, Judy and Nick must go undercover to unexpected new parts of town, where their growing partnership is tested like never before.
“Wicked: For Good”
While Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), now demonized as The Wicked Witch of the West, lives in exile, Glinda (Ariana Grande) has become the glamorous symbol of Goodness for all of Oz, reassuring the masses that all is well under the rule of The Wizard. As Glinda’s stardom expands and she prepares to marry Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), she attempts to broker a reconciliation between Elphaba and The Wizard, but everything changes when a girl from Kansas comes crashing into their lives in this smash-hit adaptation of the beloved Broadway musical.
“Sentimental Value”
After sisters Nora (Renate Reinsive) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic director Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), he offers Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star (Elle Fanning), who suddenly finds herself in the middle of their complex family dynamics.
Coming Soon
“Avatar: Fire and Ash”
A year after the events of “The Way of Water,” Jake Sully and his family encounter a new, aggressive Na’vi tribe called the Ash people. When their fiery leader Varang allies with Jake’s enemy Quaritch, the conflict on Pandora escalates to devastating consequences in “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” the next installment in director James Cameron’s visionary sci-fi series.
Starts December 19.
“The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for SquarePants”
Desperate to be a big guy, SpongeBob sets out to prove his bravery to Mr. Krabs by following a mysterious swashbuckling ghost pirate named The Flying Dutchman on a seafaring adventure where no Sponge has gone before: the deepest, darkest depths of the sea! The biggest cinematic outing yet for this long-running family series, do not miss “The Spongebob Movie: Search for Squarepants” when it splashes into The Triplex!
Starts December 19.
“Song Sung Blue”
Based on the true story of Mike and Claire Sardina, two down-on-their-luck musicians who find improbable success—and love—when they form a Neil Diamond tribute band, “Song Sung Blue” is the feel-good movie of the holiday season! Starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson as the Sardinas, “Song Sung Blue” is a rocking tribute to the idea that it is never too late to follow your dreams.
Starts December 25.
“Marty Supreme”
In 1950s New York City, Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet) is a young man with a dream no one respects: to become America’s first table tennis superstar. Going to hell and back in pursuit of greatness, Marty risks everything he has to prove the world wrong in this tense, tender, and funny exploration of the American dream from director Josh Safdie.
Starts December 25.
