Is God Is (2026) Film Review: Cycles of Trauma

Is God Is, from writer and director Aleshea Harris, is a tale of revenge that is also a story of collective trauma and its impact on individuals.

Twins Racine (Kara Young, of I Love Boosters) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson, of Vladimir) are on a mission from God, but in this case, God is their Mother, Ruby (Vivica A. Fox, of Kill Bill: Vol. 1), and the mission is one of revenge. When their mother writes to them after years of them believing she was dead, Racine and Anaia visit her to find out her dying wish. She explains that the scars they carry and the ones that cover her entire body are the result of their father trying to burn Ruby alive when they were just girls. Now Ruby wants them to find the Man (Sterling K. Brown, of Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.) and murder him before she dies.

This mission sends them across the country, forcing them to interact with the people their father has left in his wake. His abusive behavior didn’t stop with them and their mother, but passed through multiple people. Racine, who has spent most of her life forced to stand up for the far more visibly scarred Anaia, takes to the mandate with more enthusiasm. But as they make their way closer to their target, Anaia finds that her sister isn’t the only one holding onto anger at what happened to them.

Despite being adapted from an off-Broadway play, Is God Is provides a fully developed cinematic experience. Harris gives us with a tight narrative that ties together the various vignettes that are explored throughout the film. This kind of work could easily seem disjointed, but Harris manages to keep it connected in a way that plays incredibly naturally in a film that feels like it is on the fringes of the supernatural.

There is not a poor performance in this film. Erika Alexander is electric as the preacher woman that the Man took up with after he left Ruby. Mykelti Williamson provides an impressive turn as the now-mute lawyer who helped the Man avoid charges after he burned his wife and daughters. Janelle Monáe is phenomenal as the elegant Angie, a woman whom the Man finally settled down with to raise another set of twins. And Brown does an amazing job of bringing to life a character whom we only hear stories about, without seeing his face, until the final moments of the movie. The only person who feels wasted is Josiah Cross, whose scene feels a little tacked on. 

But Is God Is would not work if both Young and Johnson weren’t unable to carry it. Fortunately, they are more than up to the task, providing us with two nuanced characters who are far more than the caricatures we encounter in the film’s opening moments. Young’s barely contained rage provides an undercurrent of tension throughout the film, but the tenderness that she shows toward her sister is unwavering. Johnson is labeled “too emotional” from the start, but as the film progresses, we see a protective nature that allows her to survive the world’s cruelty.

This is also a beautiful film to watch. Harris seems remarkably comfortable in the director’s chair, and her cinematographer, Alexander Dynan, does a beautiful job creating something that is somehow both truly stunning and also feels like it is coated in a layer of grime. This isn’t a movie with slick armory and clean kills; Is God Is instead opts for improvised weapons that feel remarkably visceral on screen. 

Most revenge stories are built on a long-held resentment that our main character cannot release, or perhaps a religious fervor that demands some restitution. Is God Is combines the two by having the person with the long-standing vendetta assume the role of a deity. The film does an astounding job of showing how violence is often cyclical, but where it excels is by demonstrating that sometimes the cycle is perpetuated not only as a result of their own trauma, but as part of a more collective pain. Until we’re willing to address the larger systems, destruction is a near certainty.

Is God Is was released in US theatres on May 15, 2026.