Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
Writer/Director: Bassam Tariq
Cast: Mahershala Ali, John Cho, Giancarlo Esposito, Abubakr Ali, Laith Nakli, Tramell Tillman, Tiffany Boone
Comic book and action fans kept wondering when Marvel’s new Blade adaptation would finally come to fruition. It was all set up with director Bassam Tariq and 2x Oscar winner Mahershala Ali signed on to play the vampire slayer, but nothing ever came from it. It was stuck in development hell for years, until finally Tariq and Ali cut their losses and left the project. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother comes from the ashes of the Blade project, as Ali was already in peak physical form and Tariq wanted to work with the actor. Instead of a vampire killer, Ali is a devout muslim man who doubles as a hitman for hire. Your Mother makes for an unique action film, one that Tariq and Ali could’ve never made with Marvel.
Latif (Ali) is finishing his latest job, taking out some trouble in a frenzied bathroom brawl, before learning that his wife has succumbed to illness. Perhaps what started as good money as a contract killer became a necessity as Latif had to care for his three children while his wife was sick. Now that she’s gone, he has to assume all of her duties. And he’s no caretaker.
A few days removed from the burial and Latif discovers just how ill prepared he was for this role. Despite the local mosque and its Iman Abdul Malik (Giancarlo Esposito) offering their assistance, Latif is struggling to keep things together. His infant has been raised on breast milk and refuses to take formula. This is the storyline that propels much of the action in Your Mother and becomes Latif’s hardest mission of all: securing food for his family. These moments are when Ali gets to flex the dramatic muscles, as this is a man that towers above others with his physical presence but he’s helpless to provide.
Although Latif now has to take on the role of the everyday family man, his old employers won’t let him go quickly into the night. His contact, Mike (Laith Nakli), has a job that’s suited for Latif's skillset. A radical Christian, Pastor Hwan (John Cho), has been using violence to convert those to his will and take out those he deems deviants. He currently has his eye on Mike’s nephew, who runs a pornography website. Mike needs Latif to take Hwan out before it gets ugly.
Given how heavy Your Mother can be with its religious feud, Tariq has written some great brevity into this story. Since Latif has mostly been hands-off with how his children have been raised, he’s very surprised to learn about the activities his children have been involved in. These moments relieve some of the tension running through the proceedings, and it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting.
What I did anticipate was an intense action film and Your Mother mostly delivers. After the prologue, it takes a long time before Ali needs to showcase his physical talents, but when he does, it's really satisfying. His character has no special powers here, just brute force and drive to see a mission to its completion. The movie is certainly not Mahershala Ali as a John Wick action hero. It's much more deliberate about when it chooses to use violence.
The biggest issue I had with Your Mother is how the film tries to tie up all of its loose ends. While Latif makes amends with his estranged family, he also feels compelled to head back into violence. It’s at odds with a character that has mostly operated as a killer for contract, and instead of putting his family first, he’s willing to throw it all away.
Your Mother never could’ve been made under the Marvel umbrella. It’s a film that emphasizes the importance of religion equally against the violence that unfolds. A breezy action film this is not, as it highlights the difficulty raising a family when the matriarch has passed away. But for those willing to take the spiritual ride, Your Mother is a brutal action feature with a lot on its mind.
