"Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother" REVIEW

Published on 10/2/2026 

Written by: Braylon Mitchell 

Directed by: Bassam Tariq 

Cast: Mahershala Ali, John Woo, Giancarlo Esposito, Abubakr Ali, etc. 

Plot: Follows Latif, a devoutly religious hitman, who embarks on a desperate journey across Houston to protect his children after his wife dies, confronting forces closing in and beliefs threatening to unravel. 

REVIEW 

I've never seen a film quite like "Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother" and for the most part that's a major compliment. Director Bassam Tariq and two-time Oscar-winning actor Mahershala Ali were earlier this decade attached to create a new Blade film for the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) only for the project to be stuck in a perpetual state of production issues, creative differences, and then eventual cancelation. "Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother" is in many ways a middle finger in the face of the mess that Tariq and Ali faced as they reunited to create this action-drama whose style and intimate themes are far more creative and personal than any MCU Blade would've been. The action in this film is thrilling, small in scale with a lot of hand-to-hand combat or sword-to-hand combat, but high in stakes and choreographed with just enough realism without taking away from the escapist thrills of seeing a guy with a sword take on fifty guys with guns—still, I wouldn't first describe this as an action film. It is an action film, but at its foremost focus this is a study on grief and faith, especially how those two can go hand in hand when the former is so strong. Our protagonist, Latif, is devoutly religious and active in his Islamic community until the death of his wife when, on top of being overcome with grief that he can't express, he has to care for his three children as a single parent. A major driving force of the film's conflict for much of the film is Latif simply trying to find ways to feed his infant daughter breast milk. The emotions of this plot and the way that it presents its themes in such an intimate way alongside a chaotic narrative are what make the film so engaging throughout. Particularly, the film's takes on religious resistance in the face of hardship when faith feels like a betrayal of reality and learning to embrace the uncontrollable really touched me. The film tries its hand at tackling social and political themes of how religion is used in extremity to crusade with violence and ignorance, but for as important as those themes are, they felt a little too heavy handed in execution through over-the-top satire via the antagonistic group. In other words, the bad guys were too on the nose. For all its flaws, I can't stop thinking about this film and reflecting on what I loved about it. This is an original, moving, and creative action-drama that deserves much more attention than it's currently receiving. Check it out, you won't regret it. 

THREE BEST ELEMENTS

• Mahershala Ali's performance. Winner of two Best Supporting Actor Academy Awards as part of Best Picture winning films over the span of just two years (in 2017 for "Moonlight" and in 2019 for "Green Book"), it's insane to me that Ali isn't recognized as one of the great actors of our time and isn't offered the type of roles Hollywood should be lining around the block to give him. With this film, Ali is given an interesting and powerful leading role outlet to show off his acting skills with a performance that's nothing short of fantastic.

• Bassam Tariq's direction. Bold, creative, and personal. His incorporation of his own religious identity as a Muslim man into the film's themes of faith, family, and love make for directorial intimacy that I find hard not to engage with. 

• The cinematography. The camera work pops with an awesome sense of focus on bold visuals, gritty tones, and cool colors. 

WORST ELEMENT 

• The ending act of the story is very all over the place, focused in themes but narratively chaotic in a way that passed way beyond believability for me. John Woo's villain didn't work for me either, and the way his character is portrayed in the third act didn't help with the quibbles I'd already had. 

RATING

7/10

You should watch it, buddy!