Review: ‘Is God Is’ Celebrates the Perverse Poetry of Revenge [Review]

Female rage is nothing new. It’s the crux of the horror genre. But what’s special about this new wave of female-led horror is that we’re not just seeing girls and women as projections of men’s fantasies. We’re hearing about women, in all their emotional beauty and philosophical grotesquerie, from the women themselves. Aleshea Harris’ Is God Is provides a portrait of the moral tug-of-war many people face, especially when they’re forced to make sense of systemic violence enacted against them.

Harris’ Is God Is film was born from her play of the same name. In it, twin sisters Racine the Rough One (Kara Young) and Anaia the Quiet One (Mallori Johnson) reunite with their estranged mother, God, who tasks them with killing the father who sought to burn them all alive. If the idea of bloody Good for Her cinema wasn’t attractive enough, the all-star cast felt promising: Vivica A. Fox is God, Sterling K. Brown is the godforsaken father, Erika Alexander is Divine, and Janelle Monáe plays the new wife.

While the casting is fabulous, Is God Is transcends its dope premise and stacked callsheet. Equal parts terrifying and funny, Harris’ Is God Is feels so artful because the plot is heavy on spiritual decay, but presented in such a pleasing way. The movie could arguably feel like any other gritty family drama. But Harris builds tension in a decidedly horror-movie fashion — lensing stomach-turning events with glamorous camera work. Harris deserves all the kudos because she never falls into the trap of “style over substance” that bests so many horror directors.

Every element of the film, from the set design to the lighting and coloring, works in tandem. And the existence of each character feels equally intentional: God seems to represent the little voice in your head that says that maybe getting your lick back is a good thing. But that’s the thing about revenge: Even if you secure it, you’re still hollow inside when it’s all said and done.