Marvel, you’re so stupid. First off, you wasted Bassam Tariq and Mahershala Ali’s time “trying” to make a Blade movie, 4 YEARS we could have seen the actor or director use they’re talents for something. But I’m even more pissed off after seeing Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother. You mean to tell me we could have seen Tariq and a shades’d up Mahershala making multiple vampire versions of what I saw here? This is close to unforgivable from a movie lover. We should take a break…
Ali plays Latif, a practicing Muslim in Houston…who also happens to be the guy that gets called when, um, a religious purge is needed to protect the faith. However, Latif is off his game at the moment; his wife has passed after giving birth to baby Aziza; and, the baby won’t drink formula, only real breast milk. As such, Latif, and his two kids Fathia (Adia) and Qadir (Jahleel Kamara) go on the search for honest ways to obtain Aziza’s meals, which only drives a wedge between Latif and his partner Mike (Laith Nakli), just as Christian zealot Hwan Yoon (John Cho) has his sights set on Mike’s nephew Hatty (Abubakr Ali).
It’s the strange dual stories that makes Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother such a compelling watch. The pursuit of breast milk is treated just as seriously as Latif’s defense of his faith from outsiders. Bassam Tariq though understands sometimes in context, the stakes are lopsided, and treats the imbalance accordingly. Most of the big laughs are how Fathia and Qadir involve in the food search, especially Jahleel Kamara, a walking one liner machine “those titties be fire” had me burst out laughing. But still, in the end we’re trying to get food for a baby, so it’s not all fun and games. The movie’s at its best when the two stories intermingle, swerving when you least expect it that raises the blood pressure in bursts. Or, dissipates the stakes immediately when maybe the “stolen goods” are just a breast pump or refrigerated milk.
I can sense some skepticism from you all. But Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother knows exactly what it is doing. On the surface there’s lots of fun dialogue and cool visual storytelling, or incredible action sequences with swords as if Latif is some samurai from another era. But the base of the story is likely the base of most people’s stories as they grow up: how strong is your faith? Bassam Tariq uses all this glitz and glam to ultimately reveal this to be Latif’s ultimate test of his Islamic beliefs. The more we learn about his assignment, the more morally cloudy the film becomes, as Mike and Hatty reveal their intentions might not be as altruistic as the noble Latif hopes for. On the other side is John Cho, whose morality is much closer to Latif’s than he would like to admit, but because of his religion, finds himself Latif’s enemy. And then there’s Fathia. Her faith was already on the fence, and these new revelations certainly aren’t helping push her towards Islam either. This undergirding reveals itself in the big third act confrontation we know is coming, meaning the stakes of the big action sequence mean more than just blood, a welcome change of pace.
Well, if we can’t get Blade, at least we get Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother. And frankly, that’s probably better, because this is one of the stellar original films of 2026 that is built on ideas instead of dead CGI vampire corpses. But dang it if I still really want to see Mahershala in those kickass Blade sunglasses.