Newcomer Adia steps up opposite Mahershala Ali in Toronto premiere

A 25-year-old former dancer makes her film debut opposite Mahershala Ali this month in “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,” which opened at the Toronto International Film Festival, according to Variety.

The newcomer is Adia. She first trained to become a professional dancer before a hip injury ended that path, then moved into acting, Variety reported.

Her first screen credit was the Netflix series “The Midnight Club,” created by Mike Flanagan and Leah Fong. She followed it with the HBO Max series “Full Circle,” directed by Steven Soderbergh. This is her first appearance in a cinema film.

The new film comes from filmmaker Bassam Tariq. Ali stars as Latif, a hired assassin whose secret work collides with family life after his wife dies suddenly. Adia plays Fatiha, his strong-willed teenage daughter, who helps her father look after her younger brother and sister.

Her route to the part was simple and fast. She auditioned over Zoom, then Tariq flew to Washington, D.C. to meet her in person. At the time she was studying in a film programme with filmmaker Haile Gerima. The last step was a chemistry read with Ali.

What makes this stand out is the scale of the jump. One meeting. One read. Then a leading family role opposite a two-time Oscar winner.

The film will be released in cinemas by Amazon MGM Studios and Orion Pictures, Variety reported. It opens in theatres in New York and Los Angeles on Sept. 25, followed by a nationwide rollout — a wider release across the country — in October.

The Toronto festival listing describes it as a 112-minute, English-language 2026 film from the United States, according to TIFF.

For fans, this means a short wait. The festival premiere is done. The cinema dates are set.

Ali has said the project came together after his Marvel film “Blade” fell apart, in a GQ interview reported by Deadline.