Mooz-lum is the debut film of director Qasim Badir’s life experience.  The film not only touches upon the life of an American Muslim during 9/11 but it addresses issues that a wide range of Muslims can relate to. It is all about making an identity for yourself when you have various cultures, religions and perspectives surrounding you. The movie’s title is significant because it shows how other non-Muslims pronounce the word “Muslim”.                

             The movie revolves around Tariq (Evan Ross), a deeply troubled young man, who enters college and is confused about his identity. His father (Roger Guenveur) is a strict Muslim father whose dream is to make his son into a complete image of himself. Due to his father’s strict behavior, his wife divorces him and Tariq’s left with him while his daughter stays with the mother.

            Tariq’s father sends him to an Islamic boarding school to become a Hafiz, a person who has memorized the entire Qur’an. At the Islamic school, a chain of events occur which leave Tariq bitter and confused about Islam.

            Later, he goes to college trying to distance himself from his Muslim identity, starting off by telling people to call him “T”. He tries to avoid his Muslim roommate and tries typical college experiences, such as drinking alcohol for the first time, going to a concert and trying to fit in with the wrong crowd. However, all of these experiences leave him even more confused of who he wants to be.

            The movie goes into more depth about religion when the conflict between a Muslim world’s religion professor (Dorian Missick) and an uptight dean (Danny Glover) is introduced. A more sorrow turn takes place when the 9/11 attack occurs as it shows the raw emotion of both, Muslims and Americans, and what they experienced.

            The outstanding and mesmerizing acting in the movie allows the audience to dig deep into their emotions. Most Americans view Muslims as foreigners, however, this movie shows that they are not so different from American. Some of the actors are no foreigners to the big screen.  You might have seen Evan Ross (Tariq) in movies such as “ATL” and “Pride” and Nia Long played a role in “Are we there yet?’ and “Big mama’s house 2”.

            This movie can bring people of different ideas, faiths, and cultures together and shows how we are all on the same journey trying to identify ourselves, our ideas and our views.  If you enjoy movies that ask more from your emotions and touch upon a non-fictional life experience, this is a must watch!