“The soul of a hitman” is a common movie trope. But what if the hitman already is a devotee? I’m pretty sure some form of “Thou Shalt Not Kill” shows up in the Koran, does it not? [spoiler: it does, but with caveats.] For people that believe the faith of Islam is a violent one, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother will do nothing to dispel that impression, and yet the film is so complex and downright confusing that one can take a lot of messages from it both good and bad from it.
Let’s start there – the messaging. I’m not sure what this film is trying to say, but it sure was interested in telling me things. Latif (Mahershala Ali) is a recent widower and now single father to three, including a baby. He’s a devout Muslim. He believes in the faith and all the trappings of such. He’s also a machete-wielding assassin. The fact that he far prefers blades to guns is beyond my comprehension. Does Allah not allow projectiles?
There are two main plots in this movie, operating often in juxtaposition. The first is Latif pushing to get breast milk for his infant daughter. After trying the formula route for almost five seconds, he concludes such and -rather than trying harder- pushes again and again and again to collect genuine breast milk even under life-threatening circumstances again and again and again. The reason the circumstances are life threatening? That’s the second plot: Latif has been tasked with killing Pastor Kwan (John Cho) an AK-47 wielding Christian evangelist bully. Latif’s boss has a son into Muslim-themed porn. Larger-than-life gun wielding evangelist Pastor Kwan has it out for the son, hence, needs to be dealt with.
A confrontation or two later, Latif ends up getting breast milk from a woman at a converted strip club now owned and run by Pastor Kwan.
This film was confusing. I couldn’t understand all the dialogue, which 
would have been a useful tool for figuring out the plot. For instance, when Kwan confronts Latif at the converted strip club, the air is heavy with tension. I figured it was due to the contract Latif has on Kwan, but that isn’t it. Wiki says that Pastor Kwan knew the porn-king son was currently handcuffed in Latif’s car (how?) … and planned to murder him (??) Bad guy or no, I’m not sure evangelicals get away with murder. Cult figures do. Evangelicals? Only indirectly, I thought. One way or another, this doesn’t look good when Latif turns the scene and the rest of the film into a bloody mess.
Clearly not the best titled film of the year, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother is about faith, believe it or not. (The title represents an Islamic proverb.) There’s a lot of praying in the film and at least one miracle. The funny thing is the two major faiths represented in the film both come off looking bad. Latif Machete-hands ain’t exactly holding up the sunny side of Mohammed no matter how devoted he is to the faith. The would-be cult Christians fare no better, constantly bringing rifles into services. This a very violent film, and it shows both Christians and Muslims indulging in such. The only group that comes off ok in this mess is the group of Mormons next door to Latif’s family. They take in, feed, and house Latif’s family no questions asked. Hence, I’m back where I started – what’s the message of the film? Faith and devotion? Faith in what? Devotion of what? Violence is a bad thing, right? And, yet, have any of us learned that lesson by the end of the film? Maybe yes. Maybe no. This seems like a crystal clear case of a writer/director (Bassam Tariq) realizing his vision, but what that vision truly said is not as clear as it could be.
A hitman lost his wife suddenly
Now alone as a father of three
The baby needs milk
Not just something “of that ilk”
Fulfilling that may require a knife party
Rated R, 111 Minutes
Director: Bassam Tariq
Writer: Bassam Tariq
Genre: A bizarre look at faith
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Devout Muslims
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The confused
