8-year-old Nazli grew up in Sweden. Her family comes from Iran. Nazli, who thinks of herself as Swedish, wants to fit into the new Swedish surroundings. In order to seem even more Swedish, she even changes her name. She applies for a job under the name Sara Lindström, assuming that she would otherwise not even make it as far as an interview. All this is frowned upon by her traditionally-minded father Abbas. He has made many sacrifices for his two daughters and he would like to see them marry Iranian men he has chosen for them: Hassan for Mahin and Hamid for Nazli. Mahin likes Hassan, but Nazli refuses Hamid, though she does accept a job in his video shop. One day, a Swedish man called Johan makes an attempted theft. He regrets doing so and begs her not to report him. Nazli falls in love with Johan, who is a “hooligan” in her father's eyes. Hamid continues to pursue his “betrothed” Nazli and eventually tries to rape her. Nazli’s father does not believe his daughter and stands by Hamid. She leaves her family and moves in with Johan. When Hamid turns up at Mahin’s wedding, all hell is let loose …