Is God Is Review: A Bracing Blend Of Greek Tragedy With Afropunk Grindhouse Wrath

Aleshea Harris' film "Is God Is," adapted from her own play, is an intoxicating, stylish cocktail of wrath; a cocktail mixed with four parts Greek tragedy, three parts grindhouse, two parts film noir, and a heavy pour of Harris' unique style. The characters speak with a rhythmic, staccato patois that carries with it a slam-poetry spray of anger-born embers. It shakes its fist at domestic abuse, and the casual cruelty men bear on the world. It's telling that the abusive father from "Is God Is," played by Sterling K. Brown, is credited only as "Man." This film is a middle finger in the face of male-kind, and how their habits of violence, misogyny, and dismissal of the families they leave in their impulsive wake divinely give birth to the violent revenge that will, if the gods are on our side, destroy them. 

This is a film dripping with religious and demonic symbolism, but re-interpolated into the images of modern Afropunk impulses. There is a small cult-like Christian church in "Is God Is," led by a growling, cussing, devil-hating pastor (Erika Alexander), but she is a false prophet, a video game miniboss who has appropriated the language and movement of the divine but who stands as an impediment to God's fury. 

The fury in question comes from the two lead characters, twin sisters Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson). They both bear scars over large parts of their bodies, left over from an incident of sadistic childhood abuse. Racine is the angrier, more impulsive of them, happy to commit violence to protect herself and her sister. Anaia, meanwhile, is the more conscientious one, horrified that her sister may be flying off the handle once they are given a mission from God. The Man is not God in "Is God Is," but mother (Vivica A. Fox) is.

It's said that Racine "still has some pretty about her" because her burn scars did not reach her face. Both she and Anaia were, we see in flashback, pulled into a bathroom as toddlers to witness their father setting their mother aflame in a bathtub. They also bore some of the brunt of the fire. Dad enjoyed a cigarette on the porch while his family burned. He disappeared after that.

In adulthood, the twins have developed a psychic rapport, represented by on-screen subtitles that carry on entire conversations as they bounce around the screen. They refer to one another as "twin," and Young and Johnson have an intense chemistry that leaves no doubts as to the intense nature of their sororal bond. They are soon contacted by their unnamed mother, whom they thought was dead. They refer to her as God. She made them, after all. 

God lays prostrate in bed, scarred all over her body, a mask protecting her face. Women surround her, their nails clicking as they braid her hair. This is a holy image that is Jodorowsky-like in its surreality and spiritual directness. God orders her daughters to "Make your daddy dead. Real dead." So prompted to revenge, the girls set out on a road trip. Racine assures her sister that she'll commit all the violence; Anaia is too fragile for this work. 

Anaia, meanwhile, tries to retain some semblance of morality. Of course, this is not a "Hamlet"-like treatise on indecision. We know what must be done. They do too. The monster must die. Their quest takes them into the company of other victims their father has left in his itinerant steamroller of abuse.

They meet, as previously mentioned, the Erika Alexander character, one of their father's ex-wives, and another child he abandoned. They meet a fearful lawyer played by Mykelti Williamson, silent after a terrible act of violence, who pushes them in the right direction. They will eventually settle in the company of an additional wife played by Janelle Monáe ... as well as even more children. 

"Is God Is" examines and talks openly about the way abusers keep their victims in their thrall. It's not just the threat of violence, but a confident charm, a smooth word, and a promise to change. Which they do. Until the next bout of violence, the next smooth word, and the next promise. God notes that men like Dad are always happy to dazzle their abuse victims. Anyone who has been in an abusive relationship will recognize the pattern. 

And many of his victims seem to think of the Man as God. He is literally worshiped in one sequence, his petty remnants left inside a cupboarded altar like holy relics. The Williamson character sees him as an Old Testament figure of revenge, and he has been preparing himself for a life-taking beatdown he sees as inevitable. But the Old Testament revenge belongs to Racine and Anaia. And as the film goes on, the audience begins to realize both the tragedy and the necessity of blood revenge.

And also how cinematically exhilarating it is. Vivica A. Fox's presence in the movie may evoke her presence in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill," another film about a woman taking righteous vengeance against a revered, protected male who left her for dead. 

There is something happening in the culture when "Is God Is" opens the same week as the horror movie "Obsession," another film about an unhealthy relationship, and the casual abuses that can come from therein. "Obsession" is, of course, a cautionary Monkey's Paw tale about a magical wish gone awry, but it is also about how casually some people accept emotional manipulation from an abusive partner. It's almost as if we're living in an era when abusive, proudly cruel bullies are in charge of the government, and when Black women cannot understand the passion that is constantly pouring forth from their pseudo-religious worshipers.

Aleshea Harris' original Obie-winning play "Is God Is" debuted in 2018, so she was most certainly absorbing the horrors of the Trump administration, or at least the wave of casual racist cruelty that it unleashed into the American mainstream. But unlike the adolescent violence fantasies of Tarantino, Harris lashed back with poetry and righteous indignation; there was art in the outrage. 

"Is God Is" is an amazing piece of work. One of those "bolt from the blue" movies that is coming from a new artist with a new voice that audiences and critics alike will look forward to hearing again. This is Harris' first feature film, and I am eager to see more.

And it all hinges on the performances of Young and Johnson, who never drop our attention for a minute. They both know that there are real-world consequences to bloody revenge, but this isn't the real world. This is God's domain. 

/Film Rating: 9 out of 10

"Is God Is" opens in theaters on May 15, 2026.