A man is driving his car at night when he accidentally hits a dog in the road.

That kicks off a chain of events that causes several people to confront the nightmare they thought they'd put behind them in "It Was Just an Accident," the latest incendiary work from Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who has spent his career challenging and rebelling against the government of his home country.

"It Was Just an Accident" is no different. This year's Palme d'Or winner sometimes plays like a screwball comedy, but it is laced with dark secrets that rise to the surface in a harrowing finale that is not easy to shake.

Panahi expertly plays with perspective early on, throwing viewers for a loop as he lays out his characters. The man (Ebrahim Azizi) is driving with his pregnant wife (Afssaneh Najmabadi) and young daughter (Delmaz Najafi), and he experiences car trouble due to the collision with the dog. When he pulls over to get help, he's spotted by Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), who thinks he recognizes him as Eghbal, his prison captor, his prosthetic leg the giveaway to his identity.

The next day, Vahid kidnaps the man and drives him to the desert, where he attempts to bury him alive. But uncertainties about his identity — the man swears he's not who Vahid thinks he is — causes Vahid doubt, and he seeks out others who can help confirm he's got the right guy.

That leads Vahid to Shiva (Mariam Afshari), a wedding photographer, as well as a couple getting ready to say their vows, Golrokh (Hadis Pakbaten) and Ali (Majid Panahi). This group, along with assorted others (including loose cannon Hamid, played by Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr), drives through the streets of Tehran with the mystery man locked up in a trunk, looking for others to help identify the man, while also trying not to get caught and, in one instance, helping out the man's young daughter.

Panahi masterfully lays out his scenario and keeps audiences guessing. Does Vahid truly have Eghbal, and does it even matter if he does? Questions of justice and evil and lingering trauma rushes through his characters until the final frames.

There are no easy answers in "It Was Just an Accident," only questions — both of humanity, and what it means to finally close the door on the horrors of the past.

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'IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT'

Grade: B+

MPA rating: PG-13 (for thematic elements, violence, strong language, and smoking)

Running time: 1:43

How to watch: Now in theaters

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