Critics’ reviews

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (2026)

14 reviews from 14 publications. Critics’ score 76: 10 positive, 3 mixed, 1 negative.

Back to our review of Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother

76
Positive
10
Mixed
3
Negative
1

Most critics come away won over. The reviews describe a thriller that puts weighty matters, faith, grief, new fatherhood, inside a pulp action frame, and most think the two halves feed each other rather than fight. Praise lands almost unanimously on Mahershala Ali, whose stillness and physicality are credited with carrying a widowed hitman’s inward reckoning. Several also note how the premise, a father’s search for breast milk, undercuts the usual macho conventions, and a few single out Bassam Tariq’s visual direction and John Cho’s antagonist.

The reservations gather around tone. A handful of critics find the mix of action, eccentric humour and religious inquiry messy, with the film gesturing at its themes rather than examining them; The AV Club also faults it for sidelining its women. The spread is wide, running from near-raves to one clear dismissal: Deadline’s Damon Wise finds it dour and uneven, and grows weary of the solemnity in Ali’s performance that others admire.

Los Angeles Times
25 September 2026 · Tim Grierson
90*

Grierson finds the film compulsively entertaining and spiritually searching, praising its bold blend of pulp action and weighty ideas. He singles out Latif’s breast-milk quest for the way it undercuts macho action conventions and explores masculinity through service and sensitivity.

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Slant Magazine
24 September 2026 · ★★★½/4 · Marshall Shaffer
88

The critic finds the film a soulful, thoughtful reinvention of the Western that probes faith, violence, and masculinity without forcing easy answers. Mahershala Ali’s subtle performance is singled out for carrying Latif’s inward reckoning.

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The Guardian
13 September 2026 · festival review · Radheyan Simonpillai
85*

The critic finds the film a soulful, compassionate thriller that thoughtfully explores faith and grief. They especially praise Mahershala Ali’s performance in the father’s desperate search for breast milk.

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The Hollywood Reporter
13 September 2026 · festival review · Jourdain Searles
85*

The critic finds the film gripping, humane, and worthy of Mahershala Ali’s talent. They especially praise Ali’s warm, commanding performance and the film’s tender portrayal of fatherhood, faith, and family.

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Vulture
13 September 2026 · festival review · Alison Willmore
85*

Willmore finds the film thrillingly earnest and says it makes glorious use of its action premise. She especially praises Mahershala Ali’s physicality and his quiet projection of grief and regret.

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IndieWire
24 September 2026 · B · Katie Rife
77

Rife finds the film an intriguing but messy blend of faith, family, action, and eccentric humor, with some themes lost amid the chaos. She praises Mahershala Ali’s steady performance and Adia’s vulnerable portrayal, which help ground the film emotionally.

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Screen Daily
12 September 2026 · festival review · Robert Daniels
75*

The headline presents the film as an audacious follow-up and gives it a positive verdict. It singles out Mahershala Ali’s performance as outstanding.

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The New York Times
24 September 2026
64*

The page is blocked, so the critic’s verdict cannot be determined. No praise or complaint from the review is available to identify.

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The AV Club
14 September 2026 · C+ · Natalia Keogan
63

The review finds the film an uneven genre riff that gestures at religious and sexual taboos without meaningfully examining them. It praises a particularly gnarly fight scene, but faults the film for sidelining its female characters and leaving its central questions unexplored.

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Time Out
26 September 2026 · ★★★ · Elizabeth Weitzman
60

The review presents the film as a thoughtful thriller, with faith and family weighing heavily. It singles out Mahershala Ali’s widowed hitman balancing fury with the demands of new fatherhood.

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The Wrap
13 September 2026
95*

The critic finds the film a gripping, spiritually rich action thriller and calls it a cinematic miracle. They especially praise Mahershala Ali’s performance and the action sequences’ striking visual composition.

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The Playlist
12 September 2026 · B+ · Chase Hutchinson
83

The critic calls it a gripping, meditative action thriller elevated by Mahershala Ali’s performance. They also praise John Cho’s menacing, playful turn as the antagonist.

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/Film
23 September 2026 · 7.5/10 · Jeremy Mathai
75

The critic praises the film as a tense, thoughtful thriller that balances action with family drama and faith. They single out Mahershala Ali’s performance and Bassam Tariq’s striking visual direction.

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Deadline
13 September 2026 · festival review · Damon Wise
35*

Wise finds the film dour and uneven, with tonal shifts that undermine its more naturalistic first half. He praises its inventive writing and Mahershala Ali’s brooding presence, though he finds the performance’s solemnity wearing.

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Ordered by the weight we give each publication, then by score. Scores are normalised to 100; * means inferred from an unrated review. Summaries are ours, not quotations; follow the links for the reviews themselves. How we rate