Mahershala Ali Finally Made His ‘Blade’ Film With ‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’

Bassam Tariq and Mahershala Ali finally made their “Blade” movie.

On Saturday night, “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival before its theatrical release on Sept. 25. Tariq’s film centers on Latif (Ali), a devout Muslim hitman who, following the sudden death of his wife, goes on the run with his teenage daughter (Adia, a revelation), 10-year-old son (Jahleel Kamara) and newborn baby on the hunt for breast milk and after running afoul of not only his boss but also Hwan (an unrecognizable John Cho), the gun-toting leader of an anti-pornography Christian cult.

And yes, Ali dispatches his enemies with a long blade.

Tariq (“Mogul Mowgli”) was hired by Marvel Studios to direct “Blade” — with two-time Oscar winner Ali in the starring role — all the way back in 2021, but backed out of helming the project in 2022 due to production delays, staying on as an executive producer. The film was then stuck in development hell, and by July 2026, Ali confirmed it was dead in the water. So, Ali put the sword-fighting skills he’d learned training for the superhero to good use in “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,” a powerful meditation on religion, family and the ties that bind.

Following its premiere, Tariq, Ali and the cast participated in a Q&A at the packed Princess of Wales Theatre.

“It just all felt like the worlds were colliding all the time, every day and in every scene on that set,” Ali said of making the intense film. “Bassam gave us a lot to carry. I’m really grateful for the task and all the duties involved in playing this character. There’s something very special in working with my children in the film… The experience, the part, it’s all a bit of an emotional blur. And I’m still learning about it.”

In addition to Ali’s magnetic performance, which deserves serious awards consideration, “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” marks a breakout turn for Adia as his rebellious daughter struggling to balance her faith and teendom. And Adia had nothing but praise for her onscreen dad who she says allowed her to reach such great emotional depths.

“Mahershala is such an incredibly generous soul in his scene work but also off camera,” Adia shared. “He really gave me the space to share myself off camera and on camera in a way that I’m not sure a lot of people get, so it made it a lot easier to approach the work — especially really tough scenes.”

As for Ali’s fight scenes, he and Tariq gave a shout-out to Adam Hart, the film’s stunt coordinator, who choreographed the sequences in a short amount of time. “I’m so blown away with what he was able to choreograph and pull off within the time that we had,” said Ali. “It was a beautiful experience. Bassam and I met many years back, and I had had a year-plus of doing martial-arts training, and then I had over a year off of that. Bassam came to me with this incredible script and I had to do what I had to do and had my process in terms of getting to a yes. Once it was time to go, it just happened to be Ramadan and I was fasting and training a bit in L.A., and as soon as Ramadan was done, we started shooting.”