Publication Date: 05-18-2026

Is God Is (2026) review

Dir. Aleshea Harris

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★

“Careful with vengeance. You never know where the blood will land,” one character tells twin sisters Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson) roughly halfway into Is God Is. It’s such a pivotal, thought-provoking line — one that echoes in the material from that point forward — that it could’ve justifiably been the tagline on the poster. That said, the one Amazon/MGM went with works too, for its bluntness neatly summarizes the tone of the project from a dialog standpoint. But what lurks under the surface is a complex, twisty web of ideas both pragmatic and philosophical as they relate to the concept of revenge.

Based on writer/director Aleshea Harris’ 2018 play of the same name, Is God Is opens by showing us the challenging lives in which Racine, billed as “the Rough One,” and Anaia, billed as “the Quiet One,” lead. The two were injured as children when their father (Sterling K. Brown) set fire to their mother, Ruby (Vivica A. Fox); Racine suffered scars on her arm and back while Anaia’s face was left horribly disfigured. A large makeup team led by Vincent Van Dyke also effectively makes the burns on the twins elicit both a shock and sympathetic reaction.

From there, the twins navigated a plethora of treacherous foster homes. Now grown, Racine receives a letter from their thought-to-be-dead mother, who summons them to the deep south whilst on her deathbed.

Referred to as “God” by her daughters, Ruby — whose full-body burns remain apparent despite lying in a bed wearing mythical garb and makeup — orders Racine and Anaia to “make your daddy dead. Real dead.” They set course on a harrowing road-trip that results in multiple casualties all in pursuit of finding their patriarch, known only as “the Monster,” and when you see what kind of performance the great Sterling K. Brown delivers, you’ll understand why his moniker is fitting in both track record and demeanor.

Some of the folks they meet are not just eccentric asides, but colorful characters that suggest they’re lived-in, as Racine and Anaia just happen to make their acquaintance. The first detour brings the sisters face-to-face with a faith healer (Erika Alexander), and her son (Josiah Cross), who enjoys adlibbing and emphasizing in conversation as if he’s permanently stuck in “church choir” mode. A mute storefront lawyer (Mykelti Williamson) who communicates by sketching articulate words of wisdom on a small dry-erase board is the one who tells them the aforementioned morsel of insight regarding vengeance. Finally, there’s Janelle Monáe as their father’s new wife, who is both spoiled rotten and abused into submission.

Being unfamiliar with Harris’ story’s origins as a play — although I’m planning to read it this week — I can’t fathom how this story would work on stage. This is such an expansive portrait of the vast, rural regions of the deep south that so often are ignored in major media that it’s difficult to envision this “quest” story unfolding live in front of an audience. This is not judgment, as much as an observation; moreover, a huge compliment to Harris, making her cinematic debut. One recurring element present is how Racine and Anaia can more-or-less telepathically communicate via silent stares — translated via on-screen text — that serve as full-blown conversations. In conjunction with Racine and Anaia’s multi-state journey — which sidesteps questions of how they get from one-locale-to-another, or how they know exactly where their father lives — offers a bit of magical realism to the story. I wasn’t uncomfortable with the lack of plot details because, by the time they start to emerge, I was taken with the two co-leads, Young and Johnson.

Young and Johnson both make a name for themselves here. I wish I could say I saw this coming. Digging into her filmography, Young starred in a short film I happened to catch as Sundance (virtual) a few years ago called F^¢k ‘Em R!ght B@¢k. She was spunky and quick-witted. That’s not who she is here. She’s more than just angry, she’s vitriolic, justifiably yet destructively so. Johnson’s Anaia, who endured the brunt of the burns from the blaze her father set, cursed to spend the rest of her life watching people she meets avert their eyes, is far more sympathetic and cautious, not out of cowardice but of prudence. Interesting a casting choice is it that the marquee names — Fox, Brown, Alexander, and Monáe — are relegated, at most, to extended cameos while two relative unknowns shoulder the lion’s weight of this lofty picture.

Is God Is is a handsome production concerning an ugly subject. Alexander Dynan’s cinematography is thoughtful in the way it sets scenes and locations. Consider Ruby, whose matriarchal bed-ridden pose, costuming, and management of several servants makes her look like the female counterpart to Immortan Joe in Mad Max: Fury Road. There’s also some magnificent framing and lighting hues at work when Racine and Anaia find themselves in a large field upon meeting the Monster’s new wife. Prior to that, Dynan turns a junkyard of old tires and past-its-prime farm equipment in the middle of a dilapidated auto body shop into the breeding ground for violence and dread.

Even how Dynan shoots Brown’s character — building up his mystique by first showing his mouth, then his hands, then his back — visually gives us a comprehensive build of the monster with whom we’re dealing. In what amounts to a stripped down, cocktail napkin-narrative, the visual prestige he gifts this film shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Impressive as well is how economical Is God Is manages its runtime. There’s simultaneously not too many stops along this journey, yet not too few. The stops the twins make feel rewarding for the viewers thanks to the textured characters we meet, and the revelations they reveal, both externally and, for the sisters, personally. My assumption is Aleshea Harris’ film won’t be a major hit. Not initially, at least. However, when, say, Kara Young and Mallori Johnson are garnering praise for a terrific performance in the future, Sterling K. Brown’s career is being assessed for all the tremendous performances he’s given over multiple decades, or Janelle Monáe stans, who also fancy themselves as completionists, start combing through her nuanced credits will be when Is God Is gets the glory it deserves as an auspicious debut.

Starring: Kara Young, Mallori Johnson, Vivica A. Fox, Sterling K. Brown, Janelle Monáe, Erika Alexander, Mykelti Williamson, and Josiah Cross. Directed by: Aleshea Harris.