YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER

PREMISE

Follows Latif, a devoutly religious hitman, who embarks on a desperate journey across Houston to protect his children after his wife dies, confronting forces closing in and beliefs threatening to unravel.

THE GOOD STUFF

MAHERSHALA ALI- This is the role that ultimately proves how much of a fumble it is for the MCU to not have this man play Blade. Like Wesley Snipes before him, he does have the physicality, the swag, and the sword skills to play the titular hero. The action scenes in this film are sprinkled throughout, but when they hit, they REALLY hit, and he does not disappoint in that department. That being said, this is also possibly one of my favorite performances of the year. There’s a hell of an interesting duality Ali is playing. The other side of the assassin he plays is a man who, in a way, is learning how to be a father for the first time, having been away from his family for so long. Ali does have spectacular range. One could say the emotional family drama that is the center of this film is right in his wheelhouse, and that may be true. But that makes everything all the more impressive because he’s built for action as well.

JOHN CHO- There are actors who have made long-lasting careers off of playing villains (Mark Strong, Mads Mikkelsen, Willem Dafoe, Hugo Weaving, etc., etc.). From what I know, a lot of those actors didn’t start off that way; it’s just that when they played sinister for the first time, it worked so well that it made sense for them to play sinister as often as possible. John Cho should add his name to that list. John Cho is 5 ft 10, Mahershala Ali is 6 ft 4, and John Cho is the far more menacing presence whenever these two are in the same shot. That may be weird to say, considering the kinds of roles that he’s played before. But every time I see Cho on screen, he surprises me with something different. There is never an uncomplicated moment with him.

THE BAD STUFF

BACKSTORIES- Not saying these backstories don’t exist. They do; it’s just that the backstories of everybody in this film are treated as sprinkles on top of a sundae. How the hitman life conflicts with the Muslim background of the main protagonist, how his job is widely known and widely accepted by his community, and how this line of work came to exist in the first place could all have used some really in-depth exploration, and the story would have been a lot more weighty than it is. I understand the choices as to why these things are not explored in the way that they should be. The reason why we’re watching this story has very little to do with any of that. I just would have liked to see a little bit more exposition.

THE UGLY STUFF

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For this to only be Bassam Tariq’s second film (that’s also coming 6 years after his debut film) is mighty impressive. In this movie, he shows all the potential that other notable independent filmmakers had before they started making some money. In a perfect world, this would do for him what FRUITVALE STATION did for Ryan Coogler, or what something like AMORES PERROS did for Alejandro Iñárritu. Like those films, this is a film made by a prodigious filmmaker that vastly outperforms its budget and is better than it sells itself to be. It is perhaps a top 10 film of the year. But I got to sit and think on that.

YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER YOUR MOTHER is in theaters now