Bassam Tariq and John Cho on devotion and motherhood
In the film Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother, director Bassam Tariq asks uncomfortable questions about the nature of devotion, extremism, and the search for meaning. Far from being a simple morality tale, the movie uses profound theological references to expose the volatile intersection of personal faith and brutal action.
The film centers on Latif, played by Mahershala Ali, a man grappling with profound personal loss and the crushing weight of inadequacy. As a hitman for hire, Latif’s attempts to embody the role of provider and protector collide violently with the spiritual expectations placed upon him. This internal conflict is amplified by the film’s invocation of Islamic hadith, which pose a stark challenge to Latif’s sense of self.
The narrative takes a sharp turn when Latif’s vocation clashes with his spiritual life at the neighborhood mosque. When external threats push him to commit violent acts, he is forced to navigate a terrifying choice between bloodshed and exposure, setting the stage for a deeper examination of what it means to believe.
This tension is mirrored in the character of Hwan, played by John Cho, a Korean Christian extremist pastor. Hwan’s pursuit of a divine mission, often enacted through violence, reveals another side of the same quest for grace. The film masterfully avoids reducing this conflict to a simple dichotomy of Christians versus Muslims, instead showing how both Latif and Hwan operate within the same complex framework of seeking the divine in a broken world.
Director Tariq crafts this duality through powerful cultural and visual choices. The film explores how concepts like “God’s work” manifest differently across various belief systems, examining how rigorous devotion can become dogmatic, and how the pursuit of community shapes these extreme beliefs. Tariq suggests that true devotion, regardless of the path taken, is fundamentally human and deeply imperfect.
The film’s visual language is equally striking, employing a unique blend of visual metaphor. The script and cinematography delve into the uncomfortable reality of identity, with characters being labeled by their enemies in stark terms, such as Latif being referred to as “Black ISIS” and Hwan as “Kimchi Jesus.” This layering of cultural affectations underscores the film’s commentary on how identity is constructed and contested in modern society.
In conversation with Tariq, the creative process was layered with philosophical reflection. The pursuit of cinematic truth often involves questioning extremes. Tariq explores the idea that while extreme devotion can lead to dogma, the capacity for sincerity and the experience of answered prayer remains deeply human. The film uses these intense moments to ask: what happens when faith transitions from an internal feeling to an external, visible spectacle?
The movie ultimately grapples with the tension between the unseen and the empirical. Whether through the tactile reality of petroleum jelly used in a deadly sequence or the visual spectacle of light in a mosque, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother forces the audience to confront the ambiguity of existence. It suggests that finding peace may require movement, action, and a willingness to interpret the universe in a way that honors the complexity of human experience.
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