Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother
NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour discusses Basam Tariq's film "Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother," starring Mahershala Ali as a grieving Muslim hitman navigating single parenthood, faith, and his violent profession. The critics praise the film's introspective exploration of faith, grief, and humanity, noting its quiet intensity and refusal to resort to typical genre tropes.
Summary
The episode features NPR hosts Aisha Harris, culture writer Shamira Ibrahim, and Vulture TV critic Roxana Haddadi discussing the film "Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother" (also referred to as YM3 or Your Mother Times Three). The film stars Mahershala Ali as Latif, a devout Muslim contract killer who must adjust to single parenthood after his wife's death, focusing on practical challenges like finding breast milk for his infant daughter while managing work demands from his boss Mike (Lathe Knockley) to eliminate a Christian militia leader, Pastor Juan (John Cho). The film is written and directed by Basam Tariq, with whom Ali worked on the scrapped Blade reboot.
Roxana declares it the best film of the year, praising its dense examination of faith, the integration of violence with introspection, stellar performances, and immaculate cinematography that justifies theatrical viewing. Shamira notes the film resonates personally as a Black Muslim woman, appreciating how it handles representation without resorting to orientalizing tropes of pious Muslims, and highlighting the phenomenal acting and stunning camera work. Aisha points out that unlike typical "man has to babysit his kids" comedies, this film treats its premise with grace and depth, exploring Latif's absence and how it conflicts with his parenthood and faith.
The critics emphasize that the film is primarily quiet and introspective rather than action-focused, opening with a brutal murder that transitions into the preparation of Latif's wife's body for burial according to Islamic tradition. The film employs silence effectively, with Mahershala's wordless performance conveying dense emotional layers. Shamira notes the universal specificity of moments like the breast milk procurement subplot, rooted in the filmmakers' lived experience. The discussion highlights how the film treats all characters—Latif, Mike, and Pastor Juan—with empathy, refusing to clearly delineate moral winners or losers, instead suggesting that redemption and moral complexity coexist.
The cast is praised beyond just Ali and Cho, including Giancarlo Esposito as Imam Abdul Malik (who knows what Latif does but accepts him), Tramiel Tillman, and Abu Bakr Ali as Hattie, Mike's nephew involved in pornography production. The film explores interesting tensions around faith interpretation, such as the conflict between Mike and Pastor Juan over Hattie's content creation, without resolving who holds the moral high ground. The critics note how Mahershala's training in swordplay translates to comfort and discipline even outside combat scenes, reflecting his character's larger approach to rigor and faith. Roxana predicts Mahershala will receive Oscar nominations and credits the failure of the Marvel Blade project for enabling this superior film to emerge.
About this episode
Mahershala Ali’s new movie isn’t the <em>Blade </em>reboot, but it’s still worth your time. <em>Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother </em>follows a newly widowed hitman who wants out of the game. He's also a devout Muslim, and after his wife’s death, he is forced to adjust to being a single dad to three kids, while trying to balance his work and faith. But his boss (Laith Nakli) has other plans for him.<br /><br /><strong>If you’re looking for more great movies and TV about parenthood, check out these episodes:</strong><br /><br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/09/17/nx-s1-5971146/last-seen-is-a-new-spin-on-troubled-detectives" target="_blank">‘Last Seen’ is a new spin on troubled detectives</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/04/28/nx-s1-5798708/margos-got-money-troubles-is-a-smart-adaptation-well-worth-your-time" target="_blank">'Margo's Got Money Troubles' is a smart adaptation well worth your time</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/01/23/nx-s1-5683211/one-battle-after-another-is-revolutionary-and-revelatory" target="_blank">‘One Battle After Another’ is revolutionary — and revelatory</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/10/29/nx-s1-5588912/if-i-had-legs-id-kick-you-shows-off-rose-byrnes-dramatic-chops" target="_blank">'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You' shows off Rose Byrne's dramatic chops</a><br /><br />Connect with Pop Culture Happy Hour:<br /><a href="https://letterboxd.com/nprpopculture/" target="_blank">Letterboxd</a> / <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pchh" target="_blank">Facebook</a><br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/newsletter/pop-culture" target="_blank">Our weekly newsletter</a><br />Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at <a href="http://plus.npr.org/" target="_blank">plus.npr.org</a>.<br /><br />See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>
Key Insights
- Roxana argues that the film successfully integrates philosophical depth about faith with graphic violence, achieving both intellectual and visceral impact rather than sacrificing one for the other.
- Shamira contends that the film grants grace to Muslim characters to struggle and fail without constant moral judgment, allowing exploration of faith as lived experience rather than performance or political statement.
- Aisha observes that the film avoids typical 'incompetent father babysitting' comedies by treating Latif's struggle with absence as genuinely connected to his larger crises of faith and identity.
- The critics collectively argue that the film refuses clear moral delineation among its three main male characters (Latif, Mike, Pastor Juan), suggesting instead that everyone carries their own sins and deserves empathetic consideration.
- Shamira identifies that the film employs specificity—like the breast milk subplot—rooted in lived Muslim experience that paradoxically becomes universal and relatable to audiences across different backgrounds and faiths.
Topics
Transcript
This message comes from Capella University. That spark you feel? That's your drive for more. Capella University's FlexPath learning format lets you earn your degree at your pace, without putting life on pause. Learn more at capella.edu. It's like, I'm a hitman, but I'm also a dad. It's like, yes! So Mahershala Ali's new movie isn't the new Blade reboot, but believe me, it is worth your time. He's a hitman who's newly widowed and wants out of the game to focus on his family and faith. And there are some obvious cinematic tropes for this premise to take, but Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother carves out its own path. Ali is doing one of the things he does…
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