Based on Michael Muhammad Knight's provocative 2003 novel that documented the real-life Muslim-American punk scene, Eyad Zahra's debut feature takes a hard and fast look at disaffected youth in an East Coast punk house. With a standout cast and killer soundtrack, this bold mash-up of the Islamic concept of taqwá (or piety) and the punk subculture of hardcore speaks straight to the misfit in us all. Urged by his parents to stay out of trouble, college kid Yusef moves into a house with other nice Muslims-or so he thinks. Instead, Yusef finds himself amongst a motley crew, including a straight-edge hothead, a perpetually shirtless skater, and a burqa-wearing Riot Grrl. As seasons change, the housemates struggle to reconcile their ever-shifting sense of halal and haraam, culminating in a climactic punk show destined to change their lives forever. Not for the faint of heart or closed of mind, The Taqwacores shakes up mainstream perceptions of what it means to be Muslim, punk, and American.