42
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 67The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayDeepens as it plays out, and rewards viewers who stick with it through the clumsier passages. The film is moving and thought-provoking.
- 65NPRMark JenkinsNPRMark JenkinsIdeally, 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.
- 60New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanThe 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.
- 40Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearWhether 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.
- 40The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerThe New York TimesNeil GenzlingerThe 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.
- 30The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckExtremely 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.
- 30Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleAs 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.
- 25New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoThere's certainly a good movie to be made about Muslim punk musicians in the US, but this isn't it.