Opponent (2023)

"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.