When Bassam Tariq’s sophomore film Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (2026) made its world premiere at TIFF, many people suggested it symbolizes Marvel Studios’ failure to produce their now-shelved Blade movie. While it feels tacky to talk about a once-independent film (now being distributed by Amazon MGM) through the lens of the multi-billion-dollar Marvel machine, admittedly, the ghost of Blade and how it stalled Tariq and 2x Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali’s careers for years is inextricable from the creation of Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother. Luckily, this passion project forges an identity of its own as a modern take on a Samurai drama written through the lens of Islamic faith.
Well, that’s simplifying it a lot. Tariq’s second feature is certainly faith-based. But it’s also a quiet character study, a meditative family drama, and a violent, gritty action-thriller. These seemingly contradictory tones and cinematic modes make up the contemporary feel of Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, and in its best moments, it juggles these threads with sophistication and patience. If that wasn’t enough of a selling point, then surely seeing Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Jurassic World Rebirth) in his first solo leading role in years is. Though it can lack thematic focus, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is one of the most wildly unique movies to make it out of Hollywood lately.
A Genre-Mashing Contemporary Look at Muslim Faith and Identity
Religious communities remain in hostility during Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, which is set in a working-class neighborhood in Houston, Texas, where Muslims, Mormons, and evangelical Christians are struggling to coexist. The film centers on Latif (Ali), a devout Muslim father and hitman who is haunted by the recent passing of his wife. Latif’s dual life as a father and a contract killer clashes as he takes his three children on a desperate journey across Houston. Not only is Latif looking for stability for his family, but they are also on the run from a gun-crazy Christian cultist, Pastor Kwan (John Cho). In his quest to finally find peace, Latif struggles with a crisis of faith and identity.
After all this time, it’s truly amazing to see Mahershala Ali in a real movie again, especially one that is written and coordinated to show off his notable range; both as a character actor and the potential he has as an action star. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is less of a traditional action showcase and more of a study of violence (think Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here, for example). Writer-director Bassam Tariq is smartly aware of Ali’s physicality and warmth as a dramatic actor, getting the best of both sides. This film is a wonderful reminder of why Ali is one of the best talents Hollywood currently has to offer.
Mahershala Ali Reminds Us Why He Is One of Hollywood’s Finest Actors
The cast around Ali in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is just as strong. Latif’s kids deliver great performances, especially his teenage daughter Fatiha (Adia) and son Qadir (Jaheel Kamara), who help ground the family drama. Abdul Malik (Giancarlo Esposito), the owner of the local mosque, helps drive Latif’s moral center as he gets lost in his brutal trade. However, John Cho (Searching, Star Trek) is one of the film’s most striking and colorful presences as Latif’s main adversary. Cho is transformed by grills on his teeth and a trademark cowboy hat, imbuing the movie with a flavor of wackiness that probably wouldn’t work if the story wasn’t already so eccentric.
Before the Blade drama, filmmaker Bassam Tariq was known for Mogul Mowgli. His 2020 indie debut explored a young British rapper, played by Riz Ahmed, balancing his music career and Pakistani roots; it was a nuanced and fascinating study of the dynamics between modern life and Muslim faith. It might have been interesting to see how those themes would manifest in a blockbuster, but ultimately the strength of Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is that Tariq gets to delve deeper into these concepts without compromise. He takes the archetype of the principled swordsman and recontextualizes those tropes through the lens of a Muslim character, which feels like breaking new ground.
A Tender Examination of Fatherhood and Violence
Bassam Tariq’s vision is so strong that it helps cover the film’s clunkier parts. The action isn’t the cleanest, and that in turn obscures some of the emotional delivery. Certain thematic material gets lost in the general chaos of the film’s world, exposing a formal disorganization that usually comes with the territory of a bigger-scale sophomore feature. Some odd humor and tonal clashes stand out as well (such as a recurring furry joke). It’s a movie that intentionally plays with contradiction, which often pulls audiences into Latif’s headspace and reveals his crisis of faith in a confusing, unusual setting. Other times, though, it lands a little flat.
Still, this is a Muslim narrative told by a Pakistani-American filmmaker who is spinning on things he loves with his own point of view. In that sense, Tariq has further expanded the kinds of stories that can be told through a South Asian perspective. That alone is powerful enough to stick with viewers even if the movie itself isn’t exactly perfect. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother flaunts extreme duality, and like its conflicted protagonist, it’s full of masculine brutality and emotional depth in equal measure. Underneath the blood and aggression is a tale of a father who learns that being present is stronger than any act of vengeance.
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’ hits theaters on September 25!
Release Date: September 25, 2026.
Directed by Bassam Tariq.
Written by Bassam Tariq.
Produced by Bassam Tariq, Lucan Toh, & Babak Anvari.
Executive Producer: Brian O’Neill.
Main Cast: Mahershala Ali, John Cho, Giancarlo Esposito, Abubakr Ali, Tramell Tillman, Tiffany Boone, Laith Nakli, Adia, & Jahleel Kamara.
Cinematographer: Katelin Arizmendi.
Composer: Son Lux.
Editor: Cam McLauchlin.
Production Companies: Orion Pictures & Two & Two Pictures.
Distributor: Amazon MGM Studios.
Runtime: 112 minutes.
Rated R.
