Milad Alami’s latest feature, Opponent, finds its backdrop in the stark, foreboding landscapes of Northern Sweden, weaving a narrative that grapples with weighty themes even as it keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.
The film, which has been generating buzz since our conversation with the director back in June 2023, is set to captivate UK audiences with its impending release and one Nordic film you should certainly not miss.
The Story
The film came about for the director shortly after he finished his first feature film, ‘The Charmer‘. Both films tell the story of men who are total strangers in Scandinavian countries. With The Charmer, it was in Denmark, and with Opponent, in Northern Sweden. Both characters featured in these films have something in common: using their bodies as a currency.
It is a great shame that The Charmer never got a UK release, Ardalan Esmaili‘s performance is exceptional and the film’s story haunts you for weeks afterwards.
With Opponent Milad wanted to continue some of the themes from The Charmer, having grown up on Northern Sweden the director wanted to build something based on his childhood experiences.
“My journey began when I came to Sweden as a refugee from the Iran-Iraq war. My parents, particularly my dad, were politically involved, which meant we couldn’t stay in the country.
Growing up in Sweden, I was always searching for a story that could take place in that environment, one that echoed my vivid memories of arriving in Sweden and living in a refugee centre. This centre, surrounded by forest, instilled a mix of fear and wonder in me about what lay beyond its bounds. Yet, amidst this uncertainty, I found joy playing with friends in the snow.”
These experiences, this blend of fear and happiness, inspired the director.
“I wanted to find a narrative that could encapsulate both my life in Iran under a strict regime and my new life in Scandinavia, where the freedoms were vast and the possibilities endless. My aim was to tell a story that spoke to both these worlds, reflecting on the stark differences and the journey from one life to another.
The first version of the script was completely different. I rewrote it a couple of times before I discovered the character who would lead the narrative. This man and his challenges lent a film noir-ish quality to the story.”
This led the director to a vital question: What if the story he told makes the main character the mystery himself? The audience would be engaged to try to understand this individual—pondering questions like, “What’s wrong with this guy? Why is he acting this way? What does all this signify?” This is one of the many successes Milad achieves with his film.
The Location
Returning to Northern Sweden to film was an interesting experience for the director.
“I had many memories, but the place I came to is so different today. It was an old mining town, and at the time when I arrived at the end of the ’80s, it was completely dead. There was nothing there. But now, that town has changed and stuff. So, we ended up in a place called Björkliden.”
Björkliden is a short journey away from Abisko which is renowned for being one of the best spots for viewing the Northern Lights and an hours drive from there you would find the Ice Hotel in Jukkasarvi and the main city of Kiruna which was most recently featured in Sweden’s first disaster movie, The Abyss.
“I found it incredibly interesting to have people coming from the middle of crowded Tehran and then ending up in this place. It’s also extremely beautiful, but it carries this feeling that everything in your life is gone – it’s as if there’s nothing left.
I remember feeling this very strongly when I came to Sweden—the notion that nothing my parents recognised was there anymore. The only thing that remained was who you were before you arrived here.”
The challenge of filming there was at times harsh and difficult but didn’t detract from the beauty of it.
Themes
One thing that Opponent does wonderfully is tackle a number of themes in both a delicate and thrilling manner. Themes of immigration, loneliness, homosexuality, and the sport of wrestling are all interwoven. Was merging all these themes ever a challenge for the director?
“I wanted this exploration of who this character is and follow this trail that he creates“, the director explains, “We’re following this guy and he is hiding stuff from us as an audience; he could start kissing someone, he could kill someone, and he is lying to his family.”
Writing the screenplay became a challenge in trying not to go a completely different direction – the focus being our main protagonist and not detracting away from him and his story. When he meets an old team mate from his former wrestling team more questions are posed.
“It is always interesting writing these mysteries – you like to surprise someone, including the characters themselves.”
This is one of the film’s strengths – as an audience watching this film there are so many questions , so many trains of thought leading you to try and figure out what is going on. What is our main character hiding and how is this all going to end – keeping you on the edge of your seat.
The Cast
What keeps you so engaged is the performances from the cast and in particular the central performance from Payman Maadi. Payman Maadi is best known for roles in the HBO Series The Night Of and the critically acclaimed A Separation. The Iranian actor delivers a sublime performance that is also matched by his co-star Marall Nasiri, most recently seen in Young Royals.
“Payman has this magnetic quality, you can place him in a room and the camera just goes towards him. It is so interesting to look at and this is where that curiosity comes with his character. In previous roles he has had a lot of dialogue, but with Opponent I only gave him something like 50 lines to speak – we all had to figure out what was going on inside his head.”
When it came to Marall, the director had seen her in a theatre show and he had wondered why no one had ever given her a full leading role.
“She is so good!” He says.
Also involved in the cast is Björn Elgerd (Top Dog Season 1) and the director welcomed back working with Ardalan Esmaili.
TV Work versus Feature Films
Milad’s previous work includes directing five episodes of the incredible Danish drama When The Dust Settles. Later this year, he has a new series called Bullsh*t coming to Amazon Prime in the Nordics—sadly, it won’t be available in the UK. Has the director brought anything with him from filming a feature film, to a series, and then back to a feature film again?
“I think it mostly comes from experience; when doing these series there is such a huge story arc to work with and it is all about using two different tool sets. Films are so much more intimate as you are with the characters for the length of it whilst with series you watch an episode of two but then you step away from it. I like being in-between them both.
“Look at something like Mare of Easttown, it feels like you are watching this fissure because he does some of the things feature films do – it creates room for interpretation and a complexity within the characters which is not always obvious for the audience in that it isn’t always spelt out to them.”
His work on When The Dust Settles is outstanding and for those that have not caught the series we strongly recommend watching it, it can be currently found with Channel 4 in part of Walter Presents. Sadly The Charmer is not possible to find in the UK but Nordic Watchlist will continue to keep their ears to the ground if it ever does get a release.
Opponent is released in UK & Irish cinemas from the 12th April 2024 – don’t miss out!
