Motståndaren

"Iman" (Payman Maadi) and his family are living in a Swedish hostel awaiting a decision on their refugee application. Wife "Maryam" (Marall Nasiri) is expecting a baby which is quite a surprise given the two aren't exactly loved-up! Their initial application has been rejected so they must appeal. He comes across as a decent, hard working man and before he took a job delivering pizzas in all weathers, he was a part of the Iranian wrestling team at the Rio Olympiad. He reckons that if he joins a local team, it might earn them some extra brownie points with the immigration authorities. She's less than impressed with this decision, and as he plays more of a part with the team and befriends "Thomas" (Björn Elgerd) we begin to piece together a jigsaw that explains a bit of their hasty flight from home, their strained marriage and the current conflict that neither he nor she can see an easy way out of. On some levels, this works quite well - but there are just too many plot holes and the story evolves in all too bitty a fashion. It doesn't address the elephant in the room directly, but leaves us to make our own assumptions before it ends unsatisfactorily and incompletely. It has a point to make, it just doesn't really make it very forcefully or memorably. It does make you realise just how physical wrestling is, though, but otherwise rather disappoints.

"Opponent" struggles with emotional depth, uneven pacing, superficial exploration of queerness, underdeveloped supporting characters, and underutilization of its eerie setting despite promising ingredients.

The film's twists are telegraphed early on, robbing them of impact. Viewers familiar with the genre will see them coming, and the lack of surprise undermines the tension.

Despite Payman Maadi's strong performance, the film fails to deliver impactful storytelling, leaving viewers disappointed and yearning for more depth and nuance.

On a positive note, the snowbound landscapes of northern Sweden create an eerie backdrop. However, the film doesn't fully capitalize on this setting. The cinematography hints at something more profound, but it never fully materializes.

Iman is a wrestler who was once on the Iranian national team. When the police start looking for him, he flees with his family - wife Maryam and their two daughters. They end up living in one room in a run-down refugee shelter in Sweden, "near the Finland border", sometimes delivering pizzas on snowmobile for money. The process drags on with statements and appeals, while the daughters miss their friends and Maryam misses being a pianist and piano teacher.

His initial story was that a jealous teammate falsely accused him of being an anti-regime protestor. Then he tries to leverage the fact that his wife is pregnant. Hearing that elite athletes may get special dispensation, he joins a wrestling club, against his wife's wishes There he meets Swedish wrestler Thomas, who befriends him, and tries to get him to socialize with the team. Qualifying for international training camps, he meets his Iranian club, and gets into a fight with one of them.

Eventually, he confesses to the asylum officers that he is gay, has had an affair with a fellow wrestler, and that was what got him into trouble. This is the 1st he has acknowledged this to his wife. But his family just wants to "go home", regardless of the dangers that may befall them - including being pressured to get him to return.

There is a sub-plot about Abbas, a fellow asylum claimant who is repeatedly drafted to act as translator.

I like the depiction of the dilemmas posed to both sides of the asylum claimants - they may be genuinely in danger, but may not be able to prove it. There is a certain amount of chemistry between Thomas and Iman, though that does not help his cause.

While the story happens over several months, the landscape seems to be permanent winter. To alleviate the blandness, there are some scenes that are fantasy or memories. The most obvious fantasy is them living in a good house and getting their acceptance letter, which backtracks tofantasies of their actually getting their own apartment, and a scene of Maryam playing the piano at a community gathering as a memory.

The languages are Swedish and Persian, with a few English words thrown in. As in these subtitled films, I would have liked to know what language was being spoken, following the developing linguistic skills of the refugees.

This movie have many layers. The move is an intense psychological drama that deals with masculinity, intimacy and violence, themes that have completely different meanings in a country like Iran than they do in a country like Sweden. After a devastating rumor spreads about him in Iran, Imam is forced to leave everything behind and start over in Sweden, together with his family. But his past refuses to let him go. This is a movie from the very talented director Milad Alami. He tells the story very beautifully and the cast is very good. Talented actors, especially Peyman Moaadi. I can really really this movie and I hope it gets the recognition the film so well deserves.

The acting is good, there's no doubt about that, and the whole film has atmosphere and mood throughout, enough to keep us watching for the whole two hours.

The frustating thing is that the story isn't really told, it's only hinted at in vague terms, so it felt like and opportunity missed.

There are a few reviews here giving it top marks and calling it landmark cinema, but often film makers fall for the temptation of coming here to try and pump up theor movie with top notch reviews. In this case, they've also come back to upvote all their reviews and downvote the real ones, and I expect this review to get the same treatment. It's a shame, it would be so much better to let it find its own audience.