Naz & Maalik

Name: Naz & Maalik
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Comedy
Released: January 22, 2016
Duration: 86 min
Rating: 65

2016

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Generally favorable reviews based on 7 Critic Reviews

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Naz & Maalik

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Movie Details & Credits

| Release Date: January 22, 2016 | Not Rated

Summary: Over the course of one Friday afternoon in Brooklyn, two closeted Muslim teens have their secretive lives rattled by FBI surveillance.

Director: Jay Dockendorf

Genre(s): Adventure, Drama, Comedy

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 86 min

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Critic Reviews

Sara Stewart

Jan 20, 2016

Naz & Maalik does what all great New York movies do: ground unique, engaging stories in the middle of the glorious chaos that is our city. Read full review

The Playlist Katie Walsh

Jan 20, 2016

A refreshing and relevant cinematic representation, Naz & Maalik is an impressive debut for the filmmaker and actors. Read full review

Alan Scherstuhl

Jan 24, 2016

It's no news that a filmmaker's debut is mostly 90 minutes of a couple kids gabbing on the streets of Brooklyn. But writer/director Jay Dockendorf's buoyant, tragic, richly textured walking-and-talking job Naz & Maalik exhibits none of the shambling narcissism that so often characterizes such projects. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Sheila O'Malley

Jan 22, 2016

Some viewers may find all the walking and talking tedious, evidence of a film spinning its wheels. But these are the best sections of Naz & Maalik. Read full review

Sheri Linden

Jan 21, 2016

Though Dockendorf doesn’t deliver the intended dramatic punch, he’s fully in sync with his lead characters, and Cook and Johnson are never less than engaging. Read full review

Stephen Holden

Jan 21, 2016

Despite its deficiencies, Naz & Maalik feels authentic, and Mr. Johnson and Mr. Cook bring their characters completely alive. Read full review

Geoff Berkshire

Jan 21, 2016

The intense focus on the two lead characters emerges as both a strength and a weakness. There’s a lot of walking and talking, and what begins as rather charming ultimately turns tedious, even with a fleet 80-minute running time before closing credits factor in. Read full review

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Timbaros

Jan 27, 2016

Bedford-Stuyvesant is a tough neighborhood to grow up and live in, it’s even tougher if you’re young, black, Muslim and gay.

‘Naz & Maalik’ (Kerwin Johnson Jr. and Curtiss Cook Jr.) are two closeted Muslim teenagers who happen to be in love with each other. Their relationship remains aBedford-Stuyvesant is a tough neighborhood to grow up and live in, it’s even tougher if you’re young, black, Muslim and gay.

‘Naz & Maalik’ (Kerwin Johnson Jr. and Curtiss Cook Jr.) are two closeted Muslim teenagers who happen to be in love with each other. Their relationship remains a secret, not just to their families they are very close to, but also because of their religion’s condemnation of homosexuality. But ‘Naz & Maalik’ shows us how both young men go about their daily routine on a Friday afternoon, it’s an afternoon that sees their relationship get tested over a series of events that take place on that day. They sell lottery tickets and saints cards on the streets to passersby to make a bit extra spending money, and then they go to their local mosque for afternoon prayers, where the preacher says a special welcome to any police or FBI who might be in attendance.

A man on the street tries to sell them a gun that interests Maalik who tries to get the guy to bring the price down. They decide to just walk away and not buy the gun. But unbeknownst to them the gun seller was an FBI agent (Bradley Brian Custer) who, along with his partner Sarah Mickell (Annie Grier), start following the young men around. But It’s Mickell who takes more of an interest, she corners them separately and questions them on where they were the night before, and while Maalik tells her that he was with Naz, it’s Naz who lies and tells her he was at another friends house as to not give Mickell an idea that him and Maalik are in a relationship. But the young men just want to be left alone, and to complete their day’s mission of getting a chicken to kill for Maalik’s mom’s birthday.

Inspired by true events, ‘Naz & Maalik’ poignantly tells what it’s like to be an outsider within your own community, a community that has been under constant surveillance since 9/11. And at it’s center is a well-acted film by it’s two lead stars. Writer and Director Jay Dockendorf interviewed Muslims, including closeted gays, to get a realistic point of view. It’s an impressive first feature from Dockendorf.
VOD / DVD release on January 26 via Wolfe Video. See below to buy.… Expand

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