Morality, loyalty, integrity, patriotism: What do these words mean in a post-9/11 America? Powers’ Needle is a contemporary exploration of one young man’s search for definition.

Frustrated, depressed and overwhelmed by menial jobs and careless relationships, twentysomething Matt Wynand is a lost soul in a small world. Living on autopilot, Matt forges fake licenses for underage girls while struggling to balance his fantasies of values long gone with the realities around him — including recurring run-ins with a mean-spirited vagrant Matt perceives as a warped custodian of America’s future.

Matt finds his one true escape in conversations with his friend and mentor, a World War II Marine vet working as a convenience store clerk. Night after night, as the old man reflects on the price of U.S. freedom, Matt longs to hear the country’s patriotic call for himself.

Ultimately forced to confront a modern call to action, Matt watches his world take a much different shape than he ever expected. He must finally reconcile his idealistic view of American freedom with the far more ambiguous, cynical culture of a new millennium.