Is God Is by Aleshea Harris is a new film adapted from her own stage play; it is also directed by her.
Twin adult daughters, Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson), were so young they don’t recall much about the day their father, “The Monster” (Sterling K. Brown), broke the restraining order, entered their home, and set their mother on fire. The flames also enveloped the girls, their scars glaringly visible, especially on Anaia’s face. Racine and Anaia grew up in foster care, where more abuse occurred.
Now they find out their mom actually survived. Ruby (Vivica A. Fox), extremely and horrifyingly crippled from the incident, literally and figuratively, has summoned them as she lay dying: she wants her twins to wreak revenge.
- Aisha Harris, NPR: “Is God Is favorably calls to mind an assortment of brutal revenge tales and dysfunctional family melodramas with a dash of mystic horror – think Thelma & Louise meets The Color Purple meets Eve’s Bayou.”
- Guy Lodge, Variety: “Both wildly entertaining and viciously upsetting, this remarkable debut boldly reaps what others have sown.”
- Odie Henderson, Boston Globe: “…the aura of Greek tragedy and the darkest heart of neo-noir. Its soul is an unapologetic howl of Black female rage…”
The Mission
Racine has always been the tougher one, protective of Anaia, who’s sensitive, meek, and continually scorned for her “ugly” face. While the latter resists their mom’s request, Racine warms to it readily. After all, their mother is “God” because she created them.
As they set out on their shared mission, they come across the various enablers, excusers, defenders, and brainwashed progeny The Monster has cultivated since their early childhood.
Get a sense of what ensues below. I have to respectfully disagree with film critic Peter Travers, who remarks that “there’s no way to take your eyes off what’s on screen. No way in hell.” Yes, I was riveted; my partner left the theater halfway through.
Selected Reviews of Is God Is
Monica Castillo, AVClub: “Although set up like a revenge thriller, Harris’ play is brutally candid about domestic violence and the harm patriarchy inflicts on both men and women. It’s difficult to watch Is God Is and not think about some of the recent spate of violence against women, including the murder of a city official by her husband in Florida and the murder of a wife trying to leave her husband in Virginia. These are not new stories––they are sadly continuing narratives, ones that Harris rages against through her play, and now, her feature debut.”
Alison Foreman, IndieWire: “Janelle Monáe is especially sympathetic as Angie, the Monster’s newest captive, while Erika Alexander leaves a fierce impression as Divine the Healer, another woman left remembering the Monster — in a very different way. He has other kids too, and Harris introduces each in a way that complicates your understanding of the man at her story’s center.”
Andrew Lawrence, The Guardian: “Is God Is may borrow from an old narrative formula, but it reframes it into something sharper and more searching. It shows that stories rooted in Black trauma don’t have to be pulled down by it. Vibrancy and texture are what give a killing spree its stakes, after all, and this one ends with an understated affirmation of the human spirit. How’s that for a twist?”
