PLOT: Latif (Mahershala Ali) is a devout Muslim ex-soldier who supports his family as a contract killer. When his wife dies, leaving him with three children to support, he finds himself in a crisis of faith while simultaneously being dragged into a violent conflict that puts his family in danger.
REVIEW: If you want to see what a Mahershala Ali Blade movie might have been like, check out Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother. The film teams him with writer-director Bassam Tariq, who was slated to direct Ali in the now-cancelled Marvel reboot. While a Blade movie would have no doubt been more straightforward than this elevated arthouse action movie, the action sequences, as well as Ali’s flair with swordplay and martial arts, do prove that he would have made a killer Blade had he been given the chance.
Kudos to them for taking their ideas for the character and doing something creative with them, as they do here. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is unique as far as genre movies go, in that it’s at least as interested in the main character Latif’s struggle to reconcile his faith and his home life with his violent profession as it is in the action elements. He’s an interesting character, being devoutly religious but also working a violent job that puts him in direct conflict with the teachings of his community, with his mentor, Giancarlo Esposito’s Abdul Malik, slamming his excuses.
Making Latif’s life more complicated is the fact that it’s been rocked by tragedy, with his wife having suddenly passed away, leaving him with three children, one of whom is a newborn who will only drink breast milk. Much of the movie relies on Latif’s increasingly desperate attempts to secure breast milk for his child—adding a surreal, near-comic aspect at times.
While, as an action fan, I do wish Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother had a tiny bit more carnage, the family stuff is compelling. Latif’s older children don’t necessarily share his religious devotion. His daughter, Fatiha (played by young actress Adia in a terrific performance), is more interested in the secular world, while his son, Qadir (Jahleel Kamara), seems to have a limited understanding of the religion. Latif himself is torn, with the religion giving him purpose, even if he understands his daughter’s growing detachment. He’s also feuding with his estranged brother (well played by Trammell Tillman), who has left the faith behind and doesn’t understand his devotion.
The more genre-oriented parts of the movie come into play when Latif is asked to kill a Christian preacher, John Cho’s Hwan Yoon, who leads a militia bent on eradicating porn—with them targeting the nephew of Latif’s employer, whom they believe is trafficking women. Hwan Yoon is the other side of the coin to Latif, with both being devout ex-soldiers who believe they serve a higher purpose. Cho’s performance is outstanding, with him and Ali having terrific chemistry in their scenes together.
In terms of action, I found the film fared better in the smaller-scale fights than it does in the more elaborate finale, which has some confusing choreography. Even still, there’s enough on display here to suggest Tariq would have made a good Blade movie with Ali had the script or premise been figured out. Given that Ali is still in top physical condition, as shown here, perhaps he might still get a kick at the can one day—but Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is interesting enough as an action vehicle that he could easily continue in the genre. The faith aspect of the film is perhaps a little too prevalent to make this the kind of film that could connect in a mainstream way, but it’s a unique take on the genre worth checking out—either in theaters or once it hits streaming.
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