‘Is God Is’ Review: Aleshea Harris’ Neo-western Sisterhood Revenge Odyssey Burns With Fury
I know we shouldn't be stanning film presidents, but Alana “Miss Orion Pictures” Mayo is THE exception. There’s no Orion anymore, only Mayo. When Rendy Reviews is all said and done, expect me to be in her walls, pitching every screenplay I have. She's one of the few presidents out there keeping cinema alive, elevating filmmakers of marginalized backgrounds and distributing some of their best work under that label. You got filmmakers of color (Cord Jefferson, RaMell Moss, Bing Liu) and women (Emma Seligman, Sarah Polley), and most importantly, Black women (Nia DaCosta, Chinonye Chukwu). So, of course, when I learned of playwright-turned-filmmaker Aleshea Harris' Is God Is, it became one of my most anticipated films of 2026. Based on the play of the same name, her film about fierce twin survivors, on a quest to make their daddy pay, is like a cathartic manifesto for every mad-as-hell Black woman done dirty by abusive, violent men and the people who make that cycle persist. It’s as they say, hell hath no fury like two Black women scorned.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
MPA Rating: R (for strong/bloody violence and language.)
Runtime: 1 Hour and 39 Minutes
Language: English
Production Companies: Orion Pictures, Viva Maude, Linden Entertainment
Distributor: Amazon MGM Studios
Director: Aleshea Harris
Screenwriter: Aleshea Harris
Cast: Kara Young, Mallori Johnson, Janelle Monáe, Erika Alexander, Mykelti Williamson, Josiah Cross, Vivica A. Fox, Sterling K. Brown
U.S Release Date: May 15, 2026
Twin sisters Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson) are both disfigured from a traumatic fire at a young age that left them in the foster system through childhood and adulthood. Racine is the rambunctious, blunt keeper of timid Anaia, ready to go ham on anyone who talks smack about her sister’s disfigured face or her own disfigured arm. They're contacted by their estranged mother (Vivica A. Fox), whom they call GOD, for the first time in over 20 years. They find her ailing on her deathbed, and she reveals the truth: their cold, abusive father (Sterling K. Brown) set her on fire in the bathtub and did the same to them. Her final wish: to make their daddy dead.
Anaia is hesitant. Racine is all in. They've got nothing going on and no jobs to hold them down. So they embark on a cross-country quest for vengeance, finding clues that lead them to their father. Upon their journey, they realize the wide array of ramifications and burns paved across their past and the cycle of abusive violence their father left behind.
Kara Young and Mallori Johnson’s twin-flamed dynamic fiercely fuels Is God Is.
Kara Young stars as Racine and Mallori Johnson as Anaia in IS GOD IS, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo credit: Patti Perret © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
In her directorial debut, Harris brings energy to the landscape, framing the South like a Western frontier in a gorgeous, sweeping blend of urbanism and style, detailing the sisters’ love. Though on the road to deliver death, Is God Is pulses with life, helped by strong musical choices that detail the girls' shared fun personas, and DP Alexander Dynan’s sun-soaked sepia tone, giving such gorgeous flair and letting the beautiful Black anti-heroines radiate in their own neo-western zeal and with their own distinct rhythm. Her visual style plays with western pastiche with the flashbacks, in particular, framed like old photographs, adding a stylized, almost archival quality.
They may not be Tia and Tamera, but Kara Young and Mallori Johnson radiate pure Sister, Sister energy that carries Is God Is. Hell, this whole movie is like a messed-up Sister, Sister update if it went through the HBO pipeline. Their performances embody the kindred spirits of their characters: Racine's impulsive, fiery nature contrasts Anaia's quieter restraints, but always with unrelenting love and support. Both are exquisite. As Anaia, Johnson effectively conveys simmering resentment through subtle glances, especially when Racine’s recklessness drives them into deeper trouble. Young, on the other hand, is electric, commanding, funny, and volatile. I took a liking to Young as the woman of action; she makes you fist-pump, rooting for her to curbstomp anyone, and also makes you anxious and tense when she takes things too far. They're like Cain and Abel, except they're inseparable Black twins who genuinely love each other, and Cain's anger is directed outward because she feels the need to defend her sibling's honor. Their shared trauma and the weight of the world’s mistreatment – accentuated by the striking prosthetic makeup – shapes every decision, every reaction, and stirs the turmoil of their relationship with each other.
Is God Is takes rightful aim squarely at modern misogynoir.
Erika Alexander stars as Divine in IS GOD IS, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo credit: Patti Perret © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Aleshea Harris’ script balances dark comedy, social commentary, and mythmaking with impressive control. Its tone is heightened – at times exaggerated – but that hyperbole sharpens the message, never negating the intensity and boiling anger. Though I had no attachment to or knowledge of the play, it does something I don't think we've seen in Black media since The Boondocks’ “The Trial of R. Kelly”: it spins a genre to deconstruct the abusive misogynoir that Black men perpetuate, while criticizing the pillars of Black women and men who enable that behavior. What Aaron McGruder did then with the court trial archetype, Harris does here in the guise of a neo-western.
The film's vignette-like structure lets the commentary unfold naturally. Each encounter adds texture, showing how misogynoir operates across different spaces. The humor is akin to Boondocks, deconstructing Black community archetypes through a satirical, darkly absurdist lens while still exploring the psychological behaviors that stifle societal progress. It's purposeful, never losing sight of the emotional core or its message. Their father’s ex-flames – like Erika Alexander's church man-idolizing leader, Divine, and Janelle Monáe’s New Wife (yes, that’s her name), who projects her issues onto others – amplify these ideas, embodying different facets of power, complicity, and trauma.
Sterling K. Brown is especially chilling as the abusive father, completely against type, delivering a calm, controlled menace that's like Carlton from Fresh Prince if he were a serial killer. He's teased in flashbacks, his face hidden until his eventual arrival, which makes it unsettling.
Is God Is’ rushed payoff undercuts its powerful build-up.
Mykelti Williamson stars as Chuck Hall in IS GOD IS, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo credit: Patti Perret © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Though the message is effective, some of Harris’ episodic stops hit their thematic beats a bit too broadly, occasionally leaning more on comedy than depth. And while the pacing is strong overall, the ending arrives too quickly. The epilogue feels rushed, lacking the emotional closure the story builds toward. A bit more time – especially with Ruby, who is really only given one scene that Vivica A. Fox shatters in her presence – would’ve given the conclusion greater weight. So much intensity occurs in the film’s final reel, sprinting towards its credits, that by the time it's over, it feels as if a little bit of the movie went missing.
Final Statement
Aleshea Harris’ bold directorial debut Is God Is delivers a fiery exploration of violence and identity, elevated by sharp writing and standout performances from Kara Young and Mallori Johnson.
