Bassam Tariq’s action film about a Muslim assasin protecting his children from his deadly past, without abandoning his beliefs, premiered at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. The contradiction of these concepts is the basis for the tension that drives Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, a devastating departure from the conventional action blockbuster.

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother Review: A Story That Opens With a Quote From the Qur’an.

The film opens with a Surah (chapter) from the Qur’an on the importance of mothers in our lives and within Islam itself. It’s a bold way to begin an action movie, but one that effectively sets the tone for what’s to come. Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother was one of the more interesting films of TIFF 2026, with exceptional direction and a bold screenplay from writer/director Tariq.

Starring Mahershala Ali as Latif, the film follows this former Marine turned assassin for hire, who also happens to be a strict Muslim. While he follows a code, only killing those who deserve it, his actions put him at odds with his family and even evoke judgment from his own religious community. Namely from the religious leader, played by Giancarlo Esposito.

Representing Faith Without Dogma, Action Without Glory

After his wife’s death, Latif’s obligations to his handler, the one who sends him out on missions to kill, come calling. As a grieving single father, he refuses a new mission to stay with his kids, creating friction and making him a marked man. Latif now has to protect his kids with the same mercenary skill set that his faith condemns. Putting him at odds with his community, as well as a young daughter who’s beginning to question her own faith.

On a personal note: As someone raised in a Muslim household, I immediately related to the debates around religion the film depicts. It portrays believers, and even those who have strayed, as fully realized people with journeys of their own. One of the truest depictions of Muslims that I’ve ever seen represented in Western media. To see these nuanced topics conveyed in a manner devoid of any of the conventional dogma or oversimplification was exceptional. No other point is better proof of the necessity of representation in storytelling than this particular film.

An Action Movie Weighted With Substance And An Emotional Core

On its surface, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother does work effectively as an action blockbuster. Ali is in fine form as he dispatches bad guys left and right with his trademark machete and superb fighting skills. The stunt choreography is incredibly well paced and handled, without going into superhero levels of grandeur. But even the action is tied into the main story’s themes surrounding the protagonist’s beliefs and ideals.

Islam condemns killing. For any reason. There is no glory or justification in it, and Latif is judged for it throughout the film. It’s essentially the arc of his character. So even conventional action sequences are punctuated with this emotional toll that the audience feels. Each kill moves him further away from the faith he’s dedicated himself to. The more conventional hero-doesn’t-kill trope has a lot more weight when framed around these religious ideals.

Juggling Multiple Roles of Assassin, Father and A Good Muslim

The film also works as a hero having to protect his kids, type of story. After the passing of his wife, Latif is solely responsible for his three young kids, one of whom is still breastfeeding. This also creates a sort of road-trip movie subplot, as he has to constantly keep moving, dragging his kids with him, going on many different side quests to questionable places to keep them safe.

This particular angle of Latif and his kids on the road, trying to escape danger, also brings some humour to the more serious atmosphere. Scenes of the family hiding out from hitmen searching for them at the next-door Jehovah’s Witnesses, joining their prayer circle, highlight the similarities that most religions have with one another, instead of the differences. Some of the more lighthearted moments are between Latif and his teenage daughter Fatiha played by the talented Adia, who directly confronts her father’s double standards when it comes to their religion and his killing. Especially as his mercenary life intrudes into his personal one.

Mahershala Ali Is A Standout As A Grieving Husband And Protective Father

At times, Latif seems more uncomfortable explaining his side hustle to his kids than he ever is at killing bad guys. While providing much of the humour here, it’s also a relatable dynamic. Raising a teenage daughter who is, naturally, questioning her faith and by extension, her father, creates one of the more emotional conflicts of the story. And in many ways, it’s a much more interesting conflict than the hero/villain main storyline.

This push and pull of action versus ideals is what’s at stake for Latif. How does a father live up to the religious teachings that he’s trying to pass on to his kids? A universally relatable struggle that goes beyond the broader storylines of the movie. This tension is really where the emotional heart of the movie lies. Which makes Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother such a different story about religious struggle that most stories are too uncomfortable to take on.

Featuring A Stellar Cast With Strong Performances

This is one of Ali’s strongest performances, in which he stuns with his skilled action-hero physicality. But also in the quieter emotional moments, as a mourning husband, dazed father and deadly assassin with a lot to lose. His struggle is in every aspect of the performance, making the film that much stronger for it.

Giancarlo Esposito gives a grounded performance as the leader of Latif’s local Masjid, his place of worship, who knows of his past and tries to steer him back to the light. Esposito is wonderful as an elder who acts more like a father than a religious leader. There’s also John Cho, as the film’s antagonist, a violent and self-proclaimed Christian crusader, hell-bent on going after those who are different, minorities and others.

Even the hero/villain dynamic of Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is surprisingly faith-based. Cho’s Pastor Hwan is a Christian religious leader who uses his religious views to go on a quest to root out evil from other religions. This is what puts him directly in Latif’s path, as they go up against each other, with a seemingly similar underlying moral compass. It’s a fascinating good versus evil dynamic where their motivations align as almost identical religious righteousness that still puts them at odds with one another. Cho is a great villain, in a role that feels really menacing from an actor not usually known for these roles.

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother Review: Final Verdict

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is a brilliant film that plays out like an action blockbuster, with very deep themes of religious ideals versus modern-day values. The film is uniquely Muslim, one that accurately reflects not just the ideals, but even addresses the more problematic aspects of its followers. And the film doesn’t preach or take any holier-than-thou stance with its messaging, but is a more direct conversation about the various elements of beliefs in general. A must-watch for action fans, as well as those who prefer some substance from the usual blockbuster crowd-pleasing commercial film.

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother premiered at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 12, 2026.

Are you excited for Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother? How do you feel about action movies that tell a deeper story? Tell me in the comments, and follow me on X at @theshahshahid for more film reviews and reactions.