Writer-director Milad Alami grapples with heavyweight themes in his sophomore feature Opponent. The social-realist style thriller centres around mild-mannered Olympic wrestler Iman (Payman Maadi) who enjoys a quiet life his wife Maryam (Marall Nasiri) and their daughters Asal (Nicole Mehrbod) and Sahar (Diana Farzami). After he is outed as a homosexual by one of his close friends from the local gym, he is forced to flee his home. As this carries a penalty of execution in his native Iran, he desperately escapes to Scandinavia to start afresh, leaving his life behind and reluctantly turning his back on the sport. However, when it proves too difficult to seek asylum without the promise of a steady career, he returns to the ring to compete for the Swedish national team.

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