José Carlos Paixão, a butcher living in the Brazilian countryside, is at a crossroads in his life. Grief will do strange things, and he's been living out his own adolescent fantasy of playing professional soccer through his younger boy. Enter Lourdes Cintra, the town's new teacher, who might very well give him a second chance at love. Offside is about dreaming: daydreams with which we set our goals, and the nightmares that paralyze us. Circumstance, indeed, can impede us. If we're not careful, the clock can run out. But as in soccer, there's always a chance that we'll be released just in time with the goal ours for the taking.