A recently widowed father\u2019s desperate search through Houston to find breast milk for his formula-adverse newborn takes him to dicey places in writer-director Bassam Tariq\u2019s intense thriller, a showcase for extraordinary Oscar-winning actor and Oakland native Mahershala Ali.<\/p>\n
The original setup \u2014 how many films have you seen lately where a dad takes on a challenge like this? \u2014 leads to a violent yet philosophical, even faith-fueled, action film. A bold, unconventional enterprise indeed. Ali\u2019s portrayal of Latif creates one of 2026\u2019s most fascinating characters, a person with many, many layers to him. He\u2019s a hitman, devoted Muslim and now a sole parent for three children \u2014 a fussy baby, a strong-willed, individualistic teen daughter Faitha (Adia) and a younger son Qadir (Jahleel Kamara).<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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) \u2014 a guy hard-boiling in brimstone and fire with an executioner-like view of divine justice.<\/p>\n
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\u2019t do, and how tenets and principles get tested to the limits by everyday circumstances that are spinning out of our control.<\/p>\n
Tramell Tillman (\u201cSeverance\u201d) has a small but effective role as a well-off relative of Latif\u2019s, but the standout supporting performances come from Adia \u2014 whose performance is equal to Ali\u2019s \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour Mother Your Mother Your Mother\u201d cements Ali\u2019s rep as one of today\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u2018YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER\u2019<\/p>\n
3\u00bd stars out of 4<\/p>\n
Rating: R (violence and bloody images, language, some sexual content)<\/p>\n
Starring: Mahershala Ali, John Cho, Abubakr Ali, Adia Tramell Tillman, Giancarlo Esposito<\/p>\n
Writer\/director: Bassam Tariq<\/p>\n
Running time: 1 hour, 52 minutes<\/p>\n
When & where: Opens Oct. 9 in theaters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A recently widowed father\u2019s desperate search through Houston to find breast milk for his formula-adverse newborn takes him…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[967,3056,181,971,64332,1399,100,143,145,144,420,14258],"class_list":["post-487374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-entertainment","tag-features","tag-latest-headlines","tag-lifestyle","tag-movie-reviews","tag-movies","tag-news","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-things-to-do","tag-tv-streaming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}