What’s It About

A devoutly religious hit man struggles to balance work, faith and fatherhood. When his wife dies, he embarks on a desperate journey across Houston to protect his children as he confronts the forces that are closing in around him.

MOVIESinMO REVIEW

The title is “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,” with no commas. By the time the credits roll, you’ll understand why the filmmakers said it three times. Writer-director Bassam Tariq’s new thriller had its world premiere last month at the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, and the crowd went crazy. Canadian audiences don’t play around. They cheered loud and they cheered long. Mahershala Ali heard that love, too, and he should feel right at home. Both of his Oscar-winning roles, in “Moonlight” and “Green Book,” came out of TIFF. This film might keep that streak going. But first, the trailers make this movie look like Mahershala Ali doing his own version of “John Wick.” Honestly, he’d have every right to. Andy Warhol once said everybody gets 15 minutes of fame, and today it feels like everybody gets their own John Wick knockoff. But this ain’t that. Not even close. Sure, there are fights, and yes, Ali plays a hitman whose past keeps catching up with him. Still, all of that takes a back seat to what this movie truly is: a story about faith and being a father. Ali plays Latif, a devout Muslim in Houston who works as a contract killer. When his wife suddenly dies, he’s left alone with three kids. For years, Latif stayed away from home because somebody had to pay the bills, or at least that’s how he explains it. Now he has to step up, and he quickly learns that parenting is harder than any job he’s ever taken. His teenage daughter, played by Adia, is turning into a strong young woman with her own opinions and tastes that leave her strict father completely confused. His young son, played by Jahleel Kamara, is at that age where Dad is both his hero and his biggest fear. These two bring most of the laughs, and trust me, the movie needs them. Then there’s baby Zizi, who flat-out refuses to drink formula. Latif’s supply of frozen breast milk is running low, and he’s running out of time. That simple need drives the whole story. Latif’s search for milk pulls him across the city and straight into the path of Pastor Hwan, played by John Cho. Hwan is an Army veteran turned Texas preacher who rocks a cowboy hat and spurs and leads a gun-loving church that wants to “purify” the world of sinners. The church even has a logo with guns on it. A church with a logo is wild enough, but guns? Come on. Meanwhile, Latif’s imam, Abdul (Giancarlo Esposito), doesn’t approve of how Latif earns his money, and neither does his brother Talib (Tramell Tillman). Soon Latif is on the run with his kids in tow. Cho is scary good here. This is his first time playing a real villain, and he makes it count. What makes Hwan so frightening is that he truly believes he’s right. He chases power and influence, but he calls it faith, and Cho never lets you forget how sincere that makes him. That clash between faith, duty, and right and wrong sits at the heart of every twist in the plot. That’s what makes the film feel so timely. Christian nationalism keeps spreading through our government, and too many people use Islam as an easy target. So it’s refreshing to watch a movie that shows Muslims as they really are: regular people practicing one of the biggest religions on the planet. Yes, they have flaws. Latif’s line of work is connected to people in his community. But those flaws come from being human, not from their beliefs. In one scene, Latif and his family visit a group of Mormons that live in the same complex. They’re in the middle of Bible study. You’d think these two faiths would have nothing in common, but that scene shows the commonality of faith. Latif tells them how deeply one of their prayers moved him, and he means every word. It’s a beautiful moment that shows what true believers of every faith already know: different roads can lead to the same place. Tariq films much of the movie in tight close-ups, which gives it a classic, old Hollywood feel dressed in modern grindhouse clothes. That style gives every actor room to go big and stay subtle at the same time, and nobody in this cast feels small. One character shows up for a single scene before catching a machete under the arm, yet he still feels like he had a whole life before the story found him. I can’t remember the last time I could say that about a movie. The cinematography is some of the best I’ve seen in years. The cast features a wide range of skin tones, and the camera moves them through every kind of setting you can name: indoors and outdoors, day and night, neon-soaked nightclubs and bare, quiet churches. Every single shot lights each face and outfit with care. That’s no easy task, and it’s rarer than it should be. The movie moves at a steady, intense pace, pushed forward not by action scenes, but by plain human need. Above all else, Latif has to feed his daughter. If a fight has to happen first, so be it. When the action does show up, though, it hits hard. Forget the slick, polished fights we’ve gotten used to lately. These brawls are messy, brutal, and real, and Tariq shoots them with total clarity. The third act gets a little wild, and some viewers may struggle to believe it. But after thinking it over for a few hours, I believe it fits the bigger message the movie is chasing. There’s also an interesting backstory here. For years, Ali and Tariq worked together on a “Blade” reboot for Marvel before the project fell apart. It’s hard not to notice that Latif, like that vampire hunter, lives a double life, takes out his enemies with a blade, and carries a quiet, brooding intensity. If this movie weren’t so good, it could almost pass as a preview of the film we’ll never get. Instead, it stands tall on its own. Mahershala Ali switches from one extreme to the other, going from being intimidating and vicious to being tender, sensitive, or even funny at times. Ali nails a complicated role that combines heartfelt moments with dark ones. It may just be Ali’s best performance ever. Here’s the sad part. Much like “Is God Is” earlier this year, “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” will probably slip in and out of theaters way too fast. But I won’t lie to you. That’s not how I get down. So believe me when I say this movie is a straight-up banger: original, bold, and worth seeing on the biggest screen you can find. Some folks might say it’s too Black and too Muslim for the political moment we’re living in. Maybe November can help us get back on track. Until then, go see it, and see it fast.

OUR RATING – A FAITHFUL 9