At some point in watching Is God Is, a film about two sisters seeking vengeance against their father, you come to realize how powerful of a presence this movie has. It’s a wondrous privilege that Aleshea Harris gets to direct her 2018 play as her first feature film, as I could imagine how amplified and tailored the cinematic vision was going to be. Demonstrating her discipline in Shakespearean tragedies and spaghetti westerns with finesse, Harris crafts an unforgettable experience driven by raw emotion and defined by moralistic justice.

Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson) are twin sisters, but they’re also capital-T Twins, portraying an intimacy that could not be replicated or interjected by any outside force. Sometimes they hold telepathic conversations, which are diegetically silent but translated as on-screen text for the audience. Their awareness of each other either in physical proximity or in emotional duress comes in handy for the bequeathed task of killing their father, a request made by their dying biological mother (Vivica A. Fox – could we claim Harris as a Kill Bill fan?).

When the twins were children, their father (Sterling K. Brown) brought them to witness him perform the heinous act of burning their mother (unconscious from being choked out). Perhaps the twins successfully save her in the clinical sense that they are all alive and breathing, but the severe scarring, disfigurement, and broken family is not something that medical treatment can fix. Perhaps there is a hidden gratitude that they weren’t murdered, but what is it about a life that has been forever impacted by a man’s sadistic action? It is until the mother’s request that Racine’s simmering anger over the years is ignited.

The opportunity for revenge is the central shift between her and Anaia, who shares discomfort in serving a dish that is far beyond cold. But their experiences and feelings have been marked as different since the accident. Anaia’s scars are more visible on her face (“You got the most for trying to save me,” their mother says) while Racine’s are most prominent on her left arm (which might coincide with her self-declaration as the Hand of God). Even though they have lived together in synchronization and imperfect peace (one might note a quick scene where one pours cereal first in their bowl and another pours milk at the same time), the twins’ ethical tug-o-war is what keeps the journey ahead of them uncertain and tense.

As the twins trace their father’s last known appearances, the emotional and physical wreckage that he’s left behind suggests that his cruelty has not changed: abandoning a deacon who devoted her life to his return, ripping out the tongue of the lawyer who had acquitted him of the arson murder, and his current wife who is caught between financial safety and physical fear. Though we do not see him until the last thirty minutes or so, you formulate a sort of devil incarnate, marking his ill upon everyone who come across his path. The textbook abuse is not enough to describe why someone would feel the need to permanently ruin lives other than the thought that he enjoys it, but we don’t wonder about his intentions (and for that, it’s nice to have a straight-up villain). Despite the evidence laid in front of us, we tend to Anaia’s consistent pleas in avoiding unnecessary bloodshed. As someone who has dealt with the heavy brunt of their father’s actions, Anaia’s ability to still find the good makes us almost believe that forgiveness is within reach. Almost.

While I appreciate how the locations’ timelessness echoes the unfair violence against women across decades and statelines, sometimes the set design and action sequences are uninspired. There is a chase scene in an abandoned property lot that is overbearingly dull, though it’s no fault of Young and Johnson, who I would champion as incredible actresses most fitting to this role. Johnson portrays Anaia as the much-needed softness of the film, while Racine is the kind of bloodthirsty, snarling, twerking character that your eyes follow in every scene. Young, already the recipient of two Tony awards, is breaking through into the film business (catch her in I Love Boosters, opening this weekend), and I can’t wait to see what else she has in her arsenal.

Call me a sucker for mission-driven movies, because Is God Is checks that box off. It’s easy to cast this as a kind of Southern revenge tale, because it follows the same destination points as other genre-cousins. But within the rage and suffering, I see the endurance of love emanate from the twins. There are reminders of tenderness and dreams, which are often overlooked or glossed over when a movie’s selling point is about justified retribution. In another movie, an eye for an eye might be enough to close the curtains on the story. In this film, I find myself caring that they find happiness, whether in blood or absolution.

Is God Is
2026
dir. Aleshea Harris
99 min.

Now playing @ Apple Cinemas Cambridge, Alamo Drafthouse Boston Seaport, and all local AMCs