In Is God Is, Hell hath no fury like a scorned god and her daughters

That stage-to-screen experimentation extends to the film’s cinematography, which is mostly steeped in the South’s green rural landscape and the shadows of moss-lined trees. The twins’ childhood memories are shown through a sepia filter with only a few bursts of color, like a cartoon on the TV they were watching on that fateful night and some blood Racine wipes on Anaia’s white dress after defending her honor against bullies. The specter of their father looms large in Harris’ film, and he’s only shown in fragments for two-thirds of the movie. He justifies his abuse as a youthful mistake but clearly shows no remorse for the damage he’s done. 

As with the play, every character in Harris’ screenplay represents a part and an idea. Divine (Erika Alexander) is the first woman to take up with the twins’ father during the trial for attempted murder. Despite his bad behavior towards her, she still keeps him on a pedestal, quite literally tending a shrine to him. She represents the people who refuse to acknowledge an abuser’s wrongdoings. Although his current wife, Angie (Janelle Monáe), is planning her own escape, she badmouths Racine and Anaia’s mom because “any self-respecting woman would leave” if she were in a dangerous relationship. Angie represents people who will always victim-blame, no matter the circumstance. At times, these supporting characters feel secondary to the ideas they represent, which can break the illusion of this engrossing Kill Bill-style revenge tale. 

Young and Johnson drive home Harris’ emotional story with a potent chemistry both tender and volatile. They’re brilliantly paired as twins who are so closely connected that they know when the other is in trouble, but are so unique in personality that they are their own separate entities. Like angels of good and evil, one advocates for revenge, and the other asks for forgiveness. Fox makes only a brief appearance as mother, the one the twins call God for giving birth to them and giving them their divine mission, but she too leaves a passionate impression of her character’s anguish. As the father, Sterling K. Brown accomplishes his most chilling performance to date, manifesting a threatening presence even before he comes into focus. 

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. 

Director: Aleshea Harris
Writer: Aleshea Harris
Starring: Kara Young, Mallori Johnson, Janelle Monáe, Vivica A. Fox, Sterling K. Brown
Release Date: May 15, 2026