A recently widowed father’s desperate search through Houston to find breast milk for his formula-adverse newborn takes him to dicey places in writer-director Bassam Tariq’s intense thriller, a showcase for extraordinary Oscar-winning actor and Oakland native Mahershala Ali.
The original setup — how many films have you seen lately where a dad takes on a challenge like this? — leads to a violent yet philosophical, even faith-fueled, action film. A bold, unconventional enterprise indeed. Ali’s portrayal of Latif creates one of 2026’s most fascinating characters, a person with many, many layers to him. He’s a hitman, devoted Muslim and now a sole parent for three children — a fussy baby, a strong-willed, individualistic teen daughter Faitha (Adia) and a younger son Qadir (Jahleel Kamara).
Latif and those around him find their lives in upheaval when his contrasting worlds collide and explode. Ali is so good at embodying the boiling internalized emotions of a deeply divided man who’s shouldering a mountain of stress, you almost break out in a sweat along with him. He never overacts as his Latif inches closer and closer to a fated judgment day once he crosses paths with unhinged Christian evangelical pastor Hwan (John Cho) — a guy hard-boiling in brimstone and fire with an executioner-like view of divine justice.
Watching events spiral out of control for Latif will tear your heart out (thanks to Ali), but Tariq goes beyond a man facing hard choices and peers into issues rarely explored in movies, highlighting what faith can and can’t do, and how tenets and principles get tested to the limits by everyday circumstances that are spinning out of our control.
Tramell Tillman (“Severance”) has a small but effective role as a well-off relative of Latif’s, but the standout supporting performances come from Adia — whose performance is equal to Ali’s — and Abubakr Ali (no relation) as big-egoed Hatty, a young porn purveyor with way too much money to burn and a reckless nature that lands others in trouble.
“Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” cements Ali’s rep as one of today’s greatest actors, but it also serves as a calling card to its talented, up-and-coming 39-year-old filmmaker. The cinematography by Katelin Arizmendi is incredible too.
‘YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER’
3½ stars out of 4
Rating: R (violence and bloody images, language, some sexual content)
Starring: Mahershala Ali, John Cho, Abubakr Ali, Adia Tramell Tillman, Giancarlo Esposito
Writer/director: Bassam Tariq
Running time: 1 hour, 52 minutes
When & where: Opens Oct. 9 in theaters