Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
Starring Mahershala Ali, John Cho, Giancarlo Esposito, Abubakr Ali
Directed by Bassam Tariq
Latif (Mahershala Ali) is a trained assassin who kills using a bladed weapon rather than guns, and is a devout Muslim family man, tenderly caring for his daughter Fatiha (Adia), son Qadir (Jahleel Kamara), and infant daughter Aziza. After a hit goes successfully, he finds out that his wife has suddenly died, and he suffers a crisis of faith as he has to deal with being a single parent, especially since Aziza is running out of his mother's breast milk and can't drink formula. This leads him on a quest to find more, which coincides with his job when he's tasked with killing religious zealot Hwan Yoon (John Cho) who is out to kill Hatty (Abubakr Ali), a Muslim who also directs porn, because he feels Qadir is secretly running a sex trafficking operation. Caught between two villainous sides, Latif focuses on his family and sets out to keep them safe, no matter the cost.
"Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother" is a very unique, deeply personal tale that focuses on religion, duty, family, and consequences of past actions in a way that doesn't really make sense on paper, but on the big screen it's profound. Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali plays Latif, the struggling Muslim man who's also a trained assassin dealing with being the sudden single parent of three children, one of whom is in desperate need of breast milk. It's this unique mixture that blends expertly as Latif embarks on his quest for his baby's life-sustaining sustenance rather than John Wick-ing everyone in sight. It's more a family drama and one of existential faith crisis instead of shoot-em-up - even though that's also there - and the movie is all the more better for it. Essentially, it's a hybrid of religious commentary, samurai action, and family drama.
The religious commentary is the most unique aspect of the movie. There's hardly a movie out there that so devoutly shows the Muslim faith and how it's really vilified by the extreme right wing of politics than this (in fact, the title itself is a reference from an Islamic hadith from the Prophet Muhammad):
In the story referenced in the film, a man asks the Prophet "To whom should I give best of my respect?" The Prophet replies, "Your mother." The man asks a second time, and the Prophet repeats, "your mother." For a third time the man asks and the Prophet gives the same answer, and only after the fourth time does the Prophet reply with "your father." It's a powerful moment that shows how Islam reveres their parental unit, especially the mother, and how they've been misconstrued to be a terrorist organization in the eyes of American Christianity. Here, the real villains are the Christians, led by the zealous Hwan Yoon (a powerful performance by John Cho, who continues to take more challenging roles which makes his "Harold & Kumar" days a distant memory), who set out to literally kill a man because their false assumptions that he's leading a sex trafficking ring.
That doesn't mean the other side is free of guilt. The man Yoon is targeting is Hatty, a self-professed Muslim who also directs porn and treats women with disrespect, so essentially thinking he's a sex trafficker as well isn't outside the realm of plausibility. His father is equally culpable, almost forcing Latif to kill Yoon to protect his son with threats of harming his family. While this film showcases the value of the Muslim faith and how it strengthens the family dynamic, it also shows no religion is free of its own sins.
The family drama is equally important, as Latif's sole purpose is to get breast milk for his infant, and everything else becomes secondary - although inadvertently equally necessary. His daughter Fatiha (played by an impeccable young Adia) is rebellious to a fault, but also cares enough for her family that she'll dutifully watch her brother and younger daughter when needed, even if it results in them relaxing in a porn van. His son Qadir is an extremely devout Muslim in his own right, going so far as to demand his father stop the car while he's driving somewhere important so he can pray because it's the designated time. The children here are older than their years, and add to the family dynamic in powerful ways.
The action is almost an afterthought, with Latif being more a passivist than militarist, utilizing his particular set of skills only when deemed necessary. You'd expect an explosive conclusion with the way the story's being told, but the ending itself is quite unique and might not please everyone, but I found it to be a gutsy, effective way to wrap everything together that ties the action, faith, and family together in a unique way.
The Score: A+
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