Feature Presentation: Is God Is
Redemption, revenge, rage. A story with all three, but not equally.
Is God Is asks you to consider if anything is worthy of revenge. If you do get revenge, do you need redemption? If you do need redemption, will rage get in the way? Most challenging of all: what if God herself sent you?
My Rating: 4 out of 5 Rock Socks
Playwright turned first-time film director Aleshea Harris brings her bloodthirsty morality tale from stage to screen with incredible authority. Twin sisters Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson) set out on a mission from God (their Mama, Vivica A. Fox) to kill The Monster (their Daddy, Sterling K. Brown) for his attempted murder of all three that left them horribly scarred from a fire. The mission tests The Twins — and the audience — time and again all the way to the end.
“I have a few notes.”
Rating: 4 out of 5 Rock Socks
Vibe: One of them Days meets Foxy Brown meets Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Vol. 2
Life Themes: Family, Hero’s Journey, Mercy, Parenting, Siblings
Theological Lens: Forgiveness, Redemption, Repentance
Best Line: “Careful with vengeance. You never know where the blood will land.”
Mid- or Post-Credits Scene: No, go home.
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Spoiler-Free Review:
I loved watching Racine a.k.a. The Rough One continuously resist multiple opportunities to smooth her anger. I equally enjoyed witnessing Anaia, a.k.a. The Quiet One, slowly but surely gain her voice. I had smiles and laughter, tears and shock, and had a very fun time with this story that is part parable, part Southern Gothic, part Greek tragedy, and part neo-Blaxpoitation. I hadn’t heard of the play, but I definitely want to see it now. Somebody put up a production in my area, please, I’ll be there on opening night!
Signs and Wonders:
Aleshea Harris with a wonderful directorial debut! Over and again, I was so impressed. She has three published plays, with “Is God Is” winning the Obie Award for Playwriting in 2016 and her latest, “On Sugarland,” was a finalist for the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Brilliant cast. Multiple generations of solid actors coming together for a good story. Special standouts are the “God Parents,” Vivica A. Fox and Sterling K. Brown.
Engaging cinematography. Characters are framed in ways to assert who has the upper hand (or how situations shift), and scenes both indoors and outdoors were lit with clarity and got the mood across immediately. Shout-out worthy camera work by Alexander Dynan and crew.
The makeup special effects were realistic and fascinating. I have not had a lot of first-hand experience with people suffering tragic burns, and the script handled The Twins’ emotions around their bodies with dignity and grace.
The dialogue truly works. Actors own pacing that ranges from frenetic to deliberate. Many top-notch lines! “Not today, Angie, not today!” “We ain’t nothin’ but the hand of God doing her bidding.” “My sister ain’t ugly.” “Yeah, all God’s children are beautiful or whatever.” Great writing from Harris and great acting, all around.
Stumbling Blocks:
The film does have a “this is a play” vibe that is a slight detriment to the story’s flow. Scenes feel like, well, scenes. It’s not awful, but it’s noticeable. And that said, other intense films use the chapter approach to powerful effect (Strange Darling and the Kill Bill movies).
At times, the story dives deep into characters’ emotions, but in an uneven way. We see into the mind of Angie (Janelle Monae), but intros to her sons, Scotch (Xavier Mills) and Riley (Justen Ross), feels rushed. It was just enough to give us what we need for how they relate to Racine and Anaia.
Previously, on R-Rated Movie Club…
Spoiler-Filled Review:
“Make your Daddy dead. Real dead,” God tells her children, and neither the journey nor the destination disappoint. The ending absolutely shocked me. Yes, my jaw dropped when I saw the fire that figuratively and literally consumed a soul, all due to the desire for revenge.
Signs and Wonders:
The conversations about God were fascinating. The Twins decide Mama is God since she made them. But they’re ready to kill the other “god” who made them, too, though The Monster, a.k.a. Daddy tried to kill God. When Ezekiel tries to stop them with the same zeal of protecting his God, we root for The Twins. Which is better, to kill one who tried to kill in the name of the one who was almost killed? Or to kill those trying to kill the one who didn’t kill? That’s a whole lotta killin’.
Mykelti Williamson does a lot with a little playing Chuck Hall. The Monster pulled out his tongue and he now lives in fear. His eyes say so much. While his white board messages play well for laughs, they also are critical to demonstrate why The Twins should be afraid. Excellent scene.
Any movie where someone says, “We’re on a mission from God” is automatically in my cool book. See also The Blues Brothers!
Stumbling Blocks:
Some scenes felt drawn out, others abrupt. Going to see Mama felt quicker than it could be, but so did seeing Papa. I wonder about the screen time of those scenes vs. the outdoor chase with Ezekiel or the scene with Scotch and his friends. I’d much rather have more time watching The Twins with their Gods.
I have mixed feelings about the ending. In a way, Racine got the fate she deserved (Galatians 5:7 “You will reap what you sow.”) yet I was hoping for redemption for her. That’s not up to me, though, it was always up to her.
Reflection:
There are a ton of tiny theological references and homages in this film, far too many for me to deep dive properly. We could talk about how the title, Is God Is, invokes Moses asking God’s name and hearing the response: “I AM WHO I AM.” (Exodus 3:14). We could look at generational trauma, (Exodus 20:5 speaks of “visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children” and Ezekiel 18:20 declares, “The child shall not suffer for the iniquity of a parent,” which is interesting since Ezekiel (Josiah Cross) tries to stop his half-sisters from their goal. That’s just a couple, can you think of more?
I have three theological reflections I want to expand on here:
Is God Is is a reminder that we are all “wounded healers.”
The Twins live with scars, but different scars. Racine’s physical scars span her arm, Anaia’s across her neck and face. How they live with their scars is different, too. While Anaia has done healing work on her soul scars, Racine’s scars are still wounds. Fresh, and feeding rage. Mama declares Anaia the emotional one, yet Racine’s rock sock beatdowns prove otherwise.
Healing our wounds is about growth from trauma. In the Gospel of John 20:24-29, the resurrected Jesus heals the soul wounds of his disciples when he puts his physical wounds on display. Their shared experience leaves a scar they all carry, a sign of healing from what was once freshly painful. They are not the same, and there is no going back. Our wounds can heal, too. In The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen writes that our wounds do not disqualify us from helping others and in fact, may be the place from which our compassion for others can emerge.
Suffering can deepen our empathy. Maybe that’s why The Twins are compelled to obey God when she reveals her scarred, ruined body. But true healing comes through shared humanity, not detached certainty. That’s what Anaia understands but Racine never does. The Twins have physical scars, trying to mask their resulting soul wounds. Anaia becomes the wounded healer who has a scar from this mission, one that will bring healing for the next generation of her family.
Is God Is is a loyalty tale: earned, gained, given, and tested.
Racine and Anaia reminded me of Ruth and Naomi in the Book of Ruth (it’s four brief chapters, you can likely read it in under 10 minutes). After this daughter-in-law and mother-in-law duo lose their husbands, they cling close to one another to survive. Ruth says to Naomi, “Where you go, I will go… Your people shall be my people and your God my God.” Early in the film, we get this bit of narration: “Where Racine go, Anaia go.” Similar vibe.
Similar names, even! Ruth means “companion,” and Naomi means “pleasantness,” though she later calls herself Mara, which means “Bitter.” Racine means “root” and Anaia means “answered by God.” There’s something at play here in how these combinations engage each other as powerful women looking out for one another.
The big difference? Ruth and Naomi seek a kinsman redeemer. Racine and Anaia are kin seeking revenge.
Is God Is is a parable of the fine line between justice and vindication.
Jesus wasn’t the only great teacher to use parables, but he sure used them well. A parable is a story told to reveal spiritual truth, especially challenging truth. While faith can comfort the afflicted, it can also afflict the comfortable, and parables definitely do this. Plus, these fictional tales of heightened reality and character archetypes are often filled with unresolved tension without a clear, simple ending. Will the older brother reconcile now that his wayward brother is home? (Luke 15:11-32) Will the servant forgiven his debt ever pay it back now that he’s been caught withholding forgiveness from others? (Matthew 18:23-35) The open endings keep us talking.
Is God Is reminds me of the parable of the judge and the widow. (Luke 18:1-8). The judge doesn’t respect God or other people; he only believes in himself. That’s a lonely way to live, but more so as a judge, his isolationist attitude impacts the community. The widow is persistent in her pursuit of justice, to the point of embarrassing the judge. The Greek language around justice in this passage carries both the sense of “justice” and “vindication,” a cousin to revenge, depending on your translation.
If the widow wants justice, we are likely to see the widow’s pursuit of justice as, well, justified. If she wants revenge, well, what do we do with that? Does she still have a case? Even if the judge is a bad judge?
That’s where I’m left with Racine and Anaia. Does their motivation for revenge justify their actions? Their Daddy didn’t kill them, though Racine observes he killed the lives they could have led without their scars. Does that “death” justify their murderous rampage? And how it threatens to kill their souls?
In Is God Is, we see what happens when burning against someone burns you back. It consumes you. We see it consume The Twins, in one case to a horrific extent. Was it enough? Was it justified? Ambiguous, unresolved tension abounds, Dear Reader.
Where did I see it?
May saw precious few nights open to go to the movies. First, I had lots of work to do. Second, I had lots of Timberwolves and Lynx games to watch. Third, I was tired! But Is God Is kicked off a week of seeing four movies with my AMC A-List status, the most you can see in any given week. That’s only the second time it’s happened since A-List went up to four movies a week. A decent crowd of mostly young people, too, not quite half full, which isn’t too bad for a late show on a weeknight. That said, the box office hasn’t been as strong as it deserves and if your local theater has few screenings left, I highly encourage you to get out and see this one and give it some love!
Where can you see it?
This movie was released theatrically on May 15, 2026 and will livestream on Amazon Prime Video and be available on Blu-ray later in 2026.
If you like this, also try:
Kill Bill, Man on Fire, The Nightingale, One of Them Days, Revenge
Fade out…
“Careful with vengeance. You never know where the blood will land.” That warning isn’t just for The Twins; it’s for us. If we walk out of the theater feeling good about revenge, is that the way to walk through life? A good parable leaves us questioning with unresolved tension…
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Your turn!
What did you think of Is God Is, Dear Reader? God’s peace and good movies to you!