A man came to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) and said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! Who is more entitled to be treated with the best companionship by me?” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Your mother.” The man said. “Who is next?” The Prophet said, “Your mother.” The man further said, “Who is next?” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Your mother.” The man asked for the fourth time, “Who is next?” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Your father.”
Sahih Al Bukhari 1: Chapter 79, Hadith 5971
Bassam Tariq and Mahershali Ali first met in 2022 after Tariq was hired to direct the long awaited MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) adaptation of Blade. The project was announced in 2019 and quickly became a highly anticipated project within the franchise. However, close to the production start date, Tariq left the project and Blade languished in development hell for a few more years before ultimately falling apart.The story of this duo could have easily ended there but instead, Tariq and Ali made a film that’s not too dissimilar to La Samourai, Ghost Dog, and The Killer. A film that was too personal for the MCU that would represent the Muslim faith and so Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother was born.
The depiction of Islam in Hollywood has often been laced with ignorance and prejudice. With many productions opting to use the faith to create villains and antagonists. Such as by taking Islamic phrases out of context and inserting them into violent scenes is common. After all, Hollywood has turned the phrase Allahu Akbar into a violent suicidal battle cry. A lot of this comes from movies where the point of view comes from a government agency or organization, films such as True Lies, The Hurt Locker, and Zero Dark Thirty helped perpetuate this. While the phrase originally means “God is the greatest” the meaning becomes lost when the Muslim faith is seen as the aggressors. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother steps in and becomes a reclamation for a century long sin that has only grown within this industry.
The film begins with Latif (Mahershala Ali) grieving his recently deceased wife while struggling to balance raising his two kids by day and being a contract assassin by night. To make matters worse his infant daughter Aziz can’t drink formula and requires breast milk. When a job doesn’t go as planned Latif (Mahershala Ali) is torn between his duties as an assassin, his faith and his role as a father, the contradictory nature of these various roles became a large source of tension within the film.
In his attempts to get breast milk for his daughter Latif goes to the mosque of his employer, Mahmoudi (Laith Nakli). This Mosque has largely become corrupted and looks more like a party scene rather than a house of worship. The corruption is largely done by Mahmodui’s porn mogul of a son, Hatty (Abubakr Ali) who routinely shells out haram porn on the internet. As Latif is confronting his employer, his children find themselves in a trailer full of porn stars where one of the women starts breastfeeding his newborn Aziz. Here is where Laif tangles himself within right wing extremists when one of them belongs to a strip club that’s been converted into a church, with a congregation lead by Hwan Yoon, played brilliantly by John Cho. The antagonist film not only addresses the concept of the model minority but uses Hwan Yoon as a mirror image of Latif; showing him what his life could be if he continues onto his lifestyle and falls further into extremism.
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother centers around Latif’s family, Faitha, his daughter, is more aware of his actions and the contradictions of his life, while his son, Qadir brings levity to the film due to the comedic nature of his ignorance. Throughout the film you see how the toll of this double life erodes Laifs mind and body. He’s either fighting off his disgruntled employer or the religious extremist version of himself Yoon, while Latif seeks vengeance for whom his faith cannot protect. Inverting the Christian saviour propaganda helps sell the originality of how this film reverses the common tropes. Latif’s assassin outfit is seeped in black and often called by the moniker black Isis. While Hwan Yoon’s outfit resembles the KKK as they were originally depicted within the media, as crusaders. By inverting and addressing extremism on both sides this film creates an interesting insight to the way faith when mixed with power is easily corruptible.
The visual aesthetic of the film matches the tone by seeking a grimy but vibrant celluloid look that is not afraid to look stylized in utilizing neon as a way to illuminate the graphic violence, the reflections of his actions and the fluorescent lighting as Latif navigates apartment complexes while on the run. Kateline Arizmendi, known for her work on films like Cam and Swallow, does a fantastic job in towing the line between the film being overly stylized but at the same time also feeling lived in. The visuals are heightened by Son Lux’s score. Each image reverberates because of how the music pairs with it, it’s such a strong accompaniment that I can’t imagine this film without hearing the very bassy and dynamic music. It brings together everything from the writing, the direction, the performances the visuals. The score frequently utilizes a choir to accompany the loud bass surrounding it and slips into different tones perfectly while still feeling as if it belongs within this film.
Ultimately this film is a testament for original storytelling. When franchises become ubiquitous within our culture we start to lose individuality as the IP becomes the priority. By being a reflection of lived experience this film breaks down the barriers that an intellectual property would have reinforced. Bassam Tariq pulled from his own experience of fatherhood and being forced to find breast milk for his own daughter. In the film this dilemma is taken to the extremes so that the viewer can get a sense of the feelings of fatherhood that operate within him. In addition to being Muslim, the lead also shares the same faith so there’s an authenticity into how the faith is being reclaimed by this film.
If Ali and Tariq were still confined to an intellectual property, they would not be able to get as introspective and personal as this film can get. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is definitely more interesting and layered and because of this, this film will be remembered not just in the moment we are living in but in the decades that grow past it. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is less of an inversion of the Muslim faith and more of a reclamation against these institutionalized stereotypes by instead using the faith as a means for powerful storytelling instead of as the aggressor that it long finds itself trapped in. A vital and important film that opens doors for many more to tell their individualistic and personalized stories.
Watch the trailer right here.
All images via Amazon MGM Studios.
Directed by Bassam Tariq
Screenplay by Bassam Tariq
Produced by Bassam Tariq, Lucan Toh, Babak Anvari
Starring Mahershala Ali, John Cho, Giancarlo Esposito, Abubakr Ali, Tramell Tillman, Tiffany Boone, Laith Nakli
Premiere Date: September 12, 2026
Running Time: 112 minutes
Other Writers Say…
Jaime Rebanal
This film pulls off a feat that I once thought was impossible: making John Cho terrifying. There’s an easy hook that Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother builds itself from, in an action film centering the moral dilemmas of a Muslim hitman wanting nothing more than to protect his family. Notes from Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog might feel inevitable here, but Bassam Tariq’s film is one that takes its own shape by nature of how these religious teachings move people through the violence that feels inherent to this world. Incidentally, there’s always a sense of hypocrisy present in the fact that religion is observed as a means of finding peace – despite those who practice it engaging in violence to supposedly claim purity. It’s all very frightening, but Tariq senses that it’s a conflict felt within Mahershala Ali’s Latif, which makes him into a perfect action hero too.
Still, it’s hard to deny just how cathartic it feels once the violence actually takes place, only because you know that after seeing how far Latif would go to protect those he loves, he’s very consistent in his ethos. It plays perfectly into making a more contemplative work, given the slower stretches which punctuate Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother before the action takes place. Yet Tariq’s application of the technique is only made more satisfying because we find ourselves brought so closely to Latif’s world as it continues falling apart. We’re watching that disillusionment occur in real time, not just at the hands of those whom he taught, but also at those who proclaim themselves more pure than others (which we feel in every moment John Cho appears).
Nathan Sherwood
Visually stunning and captivating, director Bassam Tariq utilizes Mahershala Ali’s talents to make a film that makes Kevin Feige look like a fool. If you’re looking for a film with full on action like John Wick, this isn’t the film for you. Instead, Tariq crafts a film with humanity and grace, and follows our protagonist Latif coping with the loss of his wife and becoming a single father of three. Mahershala Ali is finally able to showcase his acting in a film that’ll resonate with many.
Leave a comment