Movie Review: Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is one of those great movies where the weight of the world slowly collapses on a character, and we watch as they do everything in their power to keep it all up and do everything right, but struggle not to be crushed. These types of movies work best when they have a strong performance at their center, and great writing with a lot of emotion and thought-provoking ideas, both of which Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother has.

Mahershala Ali is the strong performance at the center of Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, giving his best turn since his Oscar-winning performance in Moonlight. He plays Latif, a hitman deeply tied to the Muslim religion. We are introduced to Latif as he executes a hit, but it isn’t a smooth assassination or a John Wick-style beating. Latif fights a messy and tough battle with his target in a dirty bathroom. His target lands as many hits on Latif as he does to him. Latif, battered and out of breath, takes down his target with a knife, but soon after gets a phone call from his daughter, who tells him that their mother has died. Latif is so shaken by the news that he can’t wipe the blood off of his blade and doesn’t clean up the crime scene.

Latif is a tenured hitman. The years of traveling and fighting have put a strain on his body and his relationship with his family. They don’t know what he does for work, but they know that he pays for the roof over their head, even if he isn’t in that home often. Latif puts his hitman duties on hold to take care of his teenage daughter Fatiah (Adia), son Qadir (Jahleel Kamara), and his newborn, Aziza. Latif wants to do things “mom’s way”, but realizes that there is not enough of his wife’s milk saved for Aziza, who is allergic to formula. This sends Latif and the family on a journey to find milk for Aziza.

But their journey comes with trouble. Latif is contacted by his boss Mike (Naith Lakli) about needing his services to help protect his nephew Henry (Abubakr Ali), who makes amateur pornography, from Pastor Hwan (John Cho, an inspired choice), a gun-toting Christian extremist who is on a violent crusade to eradicate pornography and sin from the world. With his newborn hungry, his family’s lives being threatened, and the emotional trauma and guilt he is going through, Latif goes to great lengths to ensure the safety of those he loves the most.

Ali’s performance is spectacular. It’s a lived-in, authentic, internalized performance that took my breath away. You feel the years of hitman jobs on Latif’s body, and you see the emotional weight it has taken on him in his shoulders and his eyes. Latif never gets loud and rarely loses his temper, but you see the intensity in his face when things begin to go awry. Every move he makes is calculated, and every decision is precise; otherwise, it could lead to violence or death for him and those around him. He might be a cold-blooded hitman, but there is also warmth and heart to him, especially with his children. Adia gives a revelatory performance as Fatiah, a teenager who must grow up following the death of her mother, helping take care of Aziza and Qadir, while also learning more about her father. She keeps up with Ali’s mastery and gives one of the great breakthrough performances of the year.

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is deeply rooted in Islamic religion and culture, as we see Latif and his family attend his local mosque, learn about his code as a messenger for his God, and see smaller details like the family fasting and praying while also being a domestic drama and meditative hitman story. Director Bassam Tariq balances all of this brilliantly, making a riveting examination of a man struggling with his relationship to his family and his religion. The film’s title comes from a famous Islamic Hadith, which emphasizes the importance and power of mothers in Islamic culture. Tariq shows this importance by portraying a man thrust with the duties of being the mother and father, the caregiver and the provider, and showing how difficult doing both can be. We are shown a man struggling with the death of his wife and wondering why his God would allow something like this to happen. And we also get expertly crafted, hard-hitting, violent action sequences. Tariq has a lot on his mind Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother– and he expresses it all eloquently and in stunning fashion.

Led by excellent performances from Mahershala Ali and Adia, and skilled direction by Tariq, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is a powerful tale of religion, faith, guilt, and family that blew me away. It is one of the best movies of 2026.

TL;DR Review of Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother

• A gripping thriller deeply rooted in Islamic religion and culture.
• Mahershala Ali gives his best performance since Moonlight. Adia gives one of the great breakout performances of the year.
• Hard-hitting action mixed with powerful themes about religion, guilt, and parenting.
• One of the best movies of 2026.

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