[6][7] The Fencer was also nominated for the Golden Globe award in the Best Foreign Language Film category as a Finnish-German-Estonian co-production.

A young man, Endel Nelis, arrives in Haapsalu in the early 1950s, having left Leningrad to escape the secret police.

He finds work as a teacher and founds a sports club for his students, where he starts teaching them his great passion – fencing.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 52 reviews, and an average score of 7/10.

The site's critical consensus reads, "The Fencer's inspirational coming-of-age arc is given added heft through sensitive direction, affecting performances, and a moving, fact-based story.