When financial hardship hits, Bilal decides to train as a Pehlivan, a traditional Turkish wrestler, with hopes of competing in Kirkpinar, the most prestigious Pehlivan wrestling competition in Turkey.

In Zeki Ökten’s powerfully nuanced The Wrestler, Tarık Akan masterfully portrays a man who bears the heavy burden of aspiration. Through the lens of traditional oil wrestling, the film crafts a social-realist narrative of working-class struggle that is caught up in expectation and family legacy.