À 18 ans, Sonita est une immigrée clandestine afghane qui vit dans la banlieue de Téhéran. Elle se bat pour mener la vie qu'elle souhaite : être une rappeuse en dépit de tous les obstacles auxquels elle est confrontée en Iran et avec sa famille conservatrice. À l'opposé de son but se trouve celui de sa famille - surtout celui de sa mère - de faire d'elle une mariée en la vendant à une nouvelle famille pour 9 000 dollars.

As a female rapper in conservative Iran, Sonita’s talents are a liability. But Sonita insists on dreaming big. Her beats are as solid as stones, her rhymes are fierce, and her videos are a piercing howl against the constant injustice, fear, and sexism women must endure. It was only a matter of time before her charismatic presence and spirited eyes changed her fortune, and with the help of acclaimed director Rokhsareh Ghaemmaghami, she is suddenly offered a scholarship that leads her on a dangerous trip back to Afghanistan and ultimately to Utah. All the while, Sonita’s conservative mother insists she must be married off soon, at a price, and threatens to derail Sonita’s life at its most critical juncture.
An intimate portrait of creativity and womanhood, Sonita highlights the rarely seen intricacies and shifting contrasts of Iranian society through the lens of an artist who is defining the next generation.