This piece is part of a series of critical responses based on the films nominated for the 98th Academy Awards. In this contribution, Melanie Robson analyses how elements in director Jafar Panahi's cinematic approach that were once only a practical response to restrictions—filming in vehicles, working in small crews, and prioritising rural over urban locations—have cemented themselves in his style. In It Was Just an Accident, which is nominated for Best International Film, they don’t feel like limitations but choices that enrich the film’s visual presentation.