Walking home from Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, I saw the notification that the Pentagon was planning to livestream the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the man who perpetrated the Fort Hood shooting in 2009. This comes days after the botched lethal injection of Christa Pike in Tennessee. In a supposedly religious country with an allegedly faithful presidential administration, questions of mercy and justice go unasked, unconsidered, and unheeded.
Bassam Tariq is deeply concerned, however, and responds with Your Mother (x3). On the surface, it is another adaptation of the supersoldier action genre. His twist is that instead of a cold-blooded baba yaga à la John Wick or the one-man CIA death squad from Nobody, Mahershala Ali’s Latif is a former weekend Islamic school teacher moonlighting as an amateur hitman. Recent widower and single father, Latif's spiritual descent parallels his fall into the turmoil between a young Muslim porn producer (the son of his sleazy criminal boss) and a fundamentalist Christian preacher Bible-bashing against the adult industry with an appropriate dash of AI slop.
This conflict is performed on the stage of the Houston outskirts. Its landscapes are marked by a gritty decline against a backdrop of industrial detritus and disintegrating infrastructure. Tariq and up-and-coming cinematographer Katelin Arizmendi shoot everything gorgeously, from the bright neon reds of a mirrored strip club liberated by the Christian zealots to the sunset beaming down on the chainlinked playground of a local mosque. Juxtaposition is the name of Your Mother’s game, in its visuals, characters, and themes.
Death and life provide the most vivid contrast, as the characters and world oscillate between violence and mercy. Recovering from the death of his wife who solely borne the domestic labor of parenthood, Latif must connect and support the lives of his children, including his adult daughter played brilliantly by Adia in her feature film debut.
Latif’s overarching quest to acquire breast milk for his formula-averse infant clearly presents the dichotomy between death and life that the film strives to contemplate. As blood leaks from a retaliatory killing, soaking into the carpet, the movie cuts to neatly packed packets of milk.
It is also a movie about deep and uncompromising trust in your faith and community. However, a crisis of belief shadows over everything.
Amidst the gory mess of his life, Latif struggles to reconcile his faith with his actions and what he has lost. Fatiha also goes through this strife alongside him, with their relationship acting as the beating heart of the film.
Suffice to say, Tariq beautifully handles these motifs and themes. All elements are working in harmony, from the visuals, to the screenplay, to incredible performances from all involved. He has crafted a truly unique film, equal parts religious exploration and action thriller, all while maintaining the intimate drama of a family adapting to loss. Watching these subtle dynamics play out while the tension escalates between the baby’s needs and the demands for death placed on Latif is a gripping experience.
Packed with many differing portrayals of faith, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother depicts the ways religion is exploited, abused, and forgotten. But at the film’s brightest moments, belief provides healing power, sanctuary, and a blueprint for mercy. It is the anecdote to a violent world where extremists and bigots desecrate and disregard the meaning of their faith for greed and power.
Ben Cote is the co-editor-in-chief and chief film critic at The Film Current.
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