TIFF 2026: ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’ Shows Us What Could Have Been

With the cancellation of Marvel’s Blade adaptation, many lamented the lost opportunity not just to see the character, but to see how director Bassam Tariq and actor Mahershala Ali would bring him to life. With the arrival of Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, the latest project that reunites these two creatives, we see what could have been set against the backdrop of a man grappling with his faith, equipped with a series of blades, and ready to slice anyone who decides to come after him or his family. 

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother opens with a hadith intersposed between violently brutal shots of Latif (Mahershala Ali) taking down a target. A phone call received post-dispatch shakes the seemingly infallible man. His wife has passed away and, once again, he was not there to lay witness or give support. It is a hell of a way to start, but it raises a giant question mark about faith and what God’s purpose is for him now that he is left to fill his wife’s rather mighty shoes.

Grief is the film’s thrumming pulse, weighing heavily on Latif’s shoulders. For a man whose whole purpose is solidified on action, the loss of his wife leaves him driftless and fumbling. Even with some help from his community, he quickly finds himself with his back against the wall when he finds his children acting out in small and large ways, and his infant daughter in need of breastmilk. It’s no wonder then that he finds himself drawn to leaving his oh-so-violent and seriously illegal career behind in favor of something with more stability.

The weight of grief and crumbling faith is a driving force in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.

But life can’t be that easy, and Tariq’s injection of thrilling action becomes a tug-of-war between Latif’s boss, Mike (Laith Nakli), and the overzealous Christian Pastor Kwan (John Cho) over his nephew’s (Abubakr Ali) seriously haram business exploits. Pulled in the middle, Latif is forced to find a way to keep his family safe and put to rest this particular chapter in his professional life, but blood will be spilled in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother proves that Bassam Tariq and Mahershala Ali are a match made in heaven. The training leading up to Blade pays off well here, with Ali handling his fight scenes with a speed and efficiency that sells the dark path Latif walks. And, of course, equipped with blades, showing us what we could have had. He imbues Latif with a silent strength, but as time passes and Latif tries to find solutions, that strength steadily collapses in the way he holds his gaze and posture.

While Mahershala Ali is the clear focal point, Laith Nakli and John Cho craft worthy adversaries up against Latif. Nakli plays Mike as a man who is clearly in control and not afraid to remind Latif of everything he’s done for him, a proverbial sword of Damocles hanging over their relationship that only grows heavier once Mike’s nephew is in the line of Hwan Yoon’s gaze.

Pastor Kwan, in all of his zealotry, presents a fascinating mirror to Latif’s own sense of righteousness.

As Pastor Kwan, John Cho is clearly having a blast here in Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother. Decked with gold teeth, a flagrantly gaudy display of his wealth and nods to his elevated religious idol status, John Cho shifts into a man who attracts followers through aura farming alone. While Cho does take big swings to push the character more into caricature territory at times, the mirror his Hwan Yoon presents when face-to-face with Latif is a fascinating one, and one that would have been fun to explore further if time and pacing permitted.

Adia and Jahleel Kamara more than prove their own in scenes with Mahershala Ali, with both portraying Latif’s eldest daughter and son, respectively. Adia, in particular, has the weightier role of the two, grappling with the hefty weight of her character’s grief and placed in a parentified position that puts her on equal footing with her father, even if he’s not yet ready to acknowledge it. As her character goes through her own crisis of faith, Adia’s subtlety conveys everything without dialogue.

For as much as Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother grapples with serious topics, the film is riddled with humor that, occasionally, is so out of pocket that you’re left gasping. Much of the film’s zingers come from Abubakr Ali, whose comedic delivery and timing are so on point that someone needs to hand him more comedic roles immediately. 

Comedy hits hard when deployed, giving us some of the most wtf moments.

Where the film stumbles is in its climactic battle sequence and resolution, with moments feeling more convenient than wholly earned. Set within the exquisitely lush, yet simultaneously gauche confines of a mansion, these moments are exquisitely shot by cinematographer Katelin Arizmendi. It is the pinnacle of everything Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother has worked towards, but certain decisions made (mostly involving the Pastor) take some of the wind out of its sails. 

Even so, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is a brilliant exploration of grief and lost faith, anchored by Mahershala Ali’s magnetic performance. Marvel is going to be punching the air over what they’ve lost because it’s clear after watching this that had they just let Bassam Tariq cook, we would have had something magical with his iteration of Blade with Mahershala Ali at the helm.

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother had its world premiere at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival and will be released in select theaters on September 25, 2026.