Within the boxing scene in Glasgow’s neighborhood of Little Baw, the academic Malcolm Lennox and the lively Rory Young are the two most promising boxers. To please his parents, Malcolm desperately tries to be as much brain as he is brawn, while Rory balances his own dreams with his family’s vicariousness - and Little Baw’s traditionalism won’t let them settle for anything less than mighty warriors to call their own. As they’ve only ever found solace in their boxing skills, the two channel their conflicted personalities in the ring. But when a career-making fight is set between them, their lives grow even more complicated after the two slowly realize: they’re falling in love with each other, having found kindred spirits. Having few other options but to win the fight, and constantly cracking under societal and familial pressure, Rory and Malcolm struggle to reconcile their love with their destinies; only one of them can win, and only one of them can win Little Baw, where the old ways will snuff out who they truly are.
True Scotsman is an exploration of masculinity, class, sexuality, and race that explores the sports genre in a way completely unseen. It is, above all, a sweeping Highland love story - and a testament to how when you find that wonderful love, life is just a little easier to navigate.
