Synopsis
Yusef, a first-generation Pakistani engineering student, moves off-campus with a group of Muslim punks in Buffalo, New York. His new "un-orthodox" housemates soon introduce him to Taqwacore: a hardcore, Muslim punk-rock scene that only exists out west. As the seasons change, Taqwacore influences the house more and more. The living room becomes a mosque during the day, while it continues to host punk parties at night. Ultimately, Yusef is influenced by Taqwacore too, as he begins to challenge his own faith and ideologies. 'The Taqwacores' deals with the complexities of being young and Muslim in modern-day America.
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Cast
- Noureen DeWulfRabeya
- Jim DicksonGas Station Bully
- Volkan EryamanAmazing Ayyub
- Denise GeorgeDee Dee Ali
- Bobby NaderiYusef
- Dominic RainsJehangir Tabari
- Anne LeightonLynn
Recommendations
- 67
The A.V. Club
Deepens as it plays out, and rewards viewers who stick with it through the clumsier passages. The film is moving and thought-provoking. - 65
NPR
Ideally, The Taqwacores should be seen with "Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam," a new documentary that provides a better sense of the scene's aims and motivations. Zahra's jumpy feature film captures much of taqwacore's energy, but less of its meaning. - 60
New York Daily News
The actual Taqwacore movement is distilled in blatantly simplistic fashion, but Zahra does capture the novel's adolescent excitement, in which a new generation rediscovers rebellion all over again. - 40
Time Out
Whether anyone over the age of 16 will find the film's proud amateurism and choir-preaching personally enlightening, much less profound, is anyone's guess. - 40
The New York Times
The Taqwacores aims for a provocative, anarchic cool by juxtaposing Islam and punk rock. But the storytelling is so muddled and the filmmaking so unpolished - and not in a good way - that mostly this movie is just unpleasant. It's also not nearly as insightful as it thinks it is. - 30
The Hollywood Reporter
Extremely crude in its technical elements, the low-budget film does reveal stylistic ambitions through devices like frequently reverting from color to black-and-white film stock. But the shaky narrative style and broad characterizations undo its effectiveness. - 30
Los Angeles Times
As a misfit-centric slap at religious conformity, the story's premise couldn't be more primed for trenchant social comedy, but screenwriter Knight and director Eyad Zahra opt for maintaining a thin veneer of tiresome obnoxiousness over exploring the contours of an emotionally complicated subculture. - 25
New York Post
There's certainly a good movie to be made about Muslim punk musicians in the US, but this isn't it.