Not many people can write an award-winning stage play, adapt it into a screenplay, and then direct that adaptation. Now, add the burden of this being their feature film debut. Aleshea Harris, only 45 years-young, occupies rarefied air. With Is God Is, a combination revenge flick and road film with levity and style, there is something bigger on Harris’ mind. The insidious nature of intimate partner violence flows underneath the surface until it erupts like a volcano, fiery and deadly.
“We come from a man that tried to kill our momma, and a momma that wants to kill that man.
It’s in the blood.”
We begin with twin sisters, preschoolers in pretty white dresses, playing during recess. Off-screen, a child calls one of the twins “ugly,” and a group of children laugh. The other twin, equipped with a whiffle bat, beats the teasers. This is a microcosm of the relationship between Anaia and Racine. Anaia (Mallori Johnson) is the quiet, observant, and shy twin, while Racine (Kara Young) is hotheaded and quick to attack when necessary. One is Fredo, the other Sonny. Fast-forward into adulthood, and we learn the cause of the dynamic is because the two sisters were badly burned as children, with Anaia having scarring across her face and Racine with melded fingers.
After the fire, the twins grew up fostered, believing their mother had long died. As adults, they receive word that she survived but is on her deathbed and demands they visit her before she passes. Racine refers to their mother as “God” because she is the one who gave them life. During the visit, God (played by icon Vivica A. Fox), whose burns cover her entire body, tells the girls about the evening the fire happened. Her estranged partner (in a menacing performance from Sterling K. Brown) broke into her house and violently assaulted her. While lying unconscious in a bathtub, he brings their daughters into the bathroom and says they are going to play a game with mommy to see if she wakes up. He sets her on fire, and the twins are burned in the process of trying to put it out.
As a final act to get revenge for her attack, the twins are asked to track down and kill their father. Anaia is confused and hurt, but Racine, filled with rage and anger, agrees to carry out the mission. In a beat-up, late ‘80s Oldsmobile-esque jalopy, the duo hit the road.
Describing the plot of Is God Is sounds dour, but that is far from the case. Anaia and Racine are both vivacious and carry a deep spirit. Their twin bond allows them to have full-blown conversations without speaking a word. And when they do speak, they finish each other’s sentences. Their sisterhood gets the audience invested in what is a tale of tragedy and bloody revenge.
The more prominent women-led revenge films that come to mind (Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill saga, Mrs. 45, and Coralie Fargeat’s Revenge) center white women victims, but Is God Is is the first since the Blaxploitation era to center Black women. One could argue Jordan Peele’s Us falls into that category, and Southern Gothic classic Eve’s Bayou has an element of revenge, but Is God Is plainly is out for retribution from reel to reel. The ’70s had Pam Grier blowing bad guys away in Coffy, Foxy Brown, and Sheba, Baby. Now, the Quiet One and the Rough One are the next up.
On the road with each new character that is encountered, we learn more about the twins. Because Racine calls their mother “God”, their plan is described in the vein of following God’s orders. Men have been using God as a justification for ruining countless lives; now, it’s the women’s turn. Erika Alexander, even in the briefest of appearances, yelling “You ain’t shit, Devil!” and eating barbecue ribs while wearing a white church dress, is why talkies were invented. As Divine, we learn she was the twins’ father’s lover after the fire and subsequent criminal trial. Once the trial was over, he skipped town, but not before impregnating Divine, giving birth to Ezekiel (Josiah Cross), who will eventually try to disrupt the twins’ plans.
We meet Chuck Hall (Mykelti Williamson), a mute lawyer who spurred the acquittal. Like old kung-fu flicks, he has been waiting and preparing for whoever comes to his office seeking revenge. His preparation, getting drunk, and letting a BDSM sex worker kick the shit out of him. Not the soundest of techniques. He attempts to dissuade the twins from the mission, but they are futile. We learn that he has a new family with a new wife (Janelle Monáe) and a new set of twins.
Is God Is is filled with Black entertainers that The Culture™️ has loved since the ‘90s (Fox, Alexander and Williamson) and the 2000s (Brown and Monáe). As performance partners, Kara Young and Mallori Johnson, along with Josiah Cross, prove there is a new generation of talented Black actors who have the range of vulnerability, animosity, hope, and vibrancy. They keep us enthralled in their journey, even if there is room to disagree with their methods.
The crux of the film relies heavily on stellar performances from Young and Johnson. As Racine, Young is the combustible engine that pushes the bounds of revenge. Early in Is God Is, the audience can empathize with her pain, but how far is too far? Is anyone innocent on the path of revenge? Racine becomes the embodiment of “hurt people hurt people”. Johnson as Anaia becomes the film’s conscience that heavily weighs each action and consequence. Anaia is sensitive and forgiving, which leads to familial tension. There is a remarkable balance between the twins, where no one is fully wrong but no one is fully right either. Hate is all-consuming, and Is God Is quietly wonders when that hate will cease or if it is even possible.
Between Is God Is and Nia DaCosta’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (which is stunningly underrated and underseen by audiences), Black women filmmakers are putting their mark on horror, thrillers, and action films while honing emotional resonance when the chance arises. The emotional tones can switch on a dime, which in worse hands can lead to overacting or set pieces that fall flat or feel disjointed. But Harris shows a keen touch, knowing when to take the foot off the pedal to ease tension and fully accelerate when scenes need to be amplified. There is a slickness and style to what she’s crafted, even beyond the film’s obvious influences. At the end of the year, when critics are putting together their favorite genre films of 2026, Is God Is better be in the mix.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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