Sometimes vengeance is aplomb and a bomb … and sometimes it is a rock in a sock. Today’s film is the latter, a weird and wonderful Southern gothic version of Kill Bill called Is God Is. This quixotic and redundant title is about adult twins Racine and Anaia, both sporting extensive burn scars, who -prompted by their mother on her deathbed- have decided to track down and kill their father.
To their credit, the twins are reluctant. In fact, only Racine (Kara Young) is convinced; such a consequential decision only occurs after seeing first-hand the burn scars inflicted upon their mother, Ruby the God (Vivica A. Fox). Racine refers to her mother as “God,” because she made them. This might be the source of the bizarre title, but who knows? All three women were burned years ago by wife-beating Monster (Sterling K. Brown). [Between Is God Is and Michael, this seems to be quite a cinematic year for terrible African-American fathers, huh?] The twins were too young to remember the trauma, but God kept it fresh for the pair, and thus begins a unique and violent journey through some of the most colorful characters the movies have ever promoted.
The twins, the “rough” one, Racine, and the “quiet” one, Anaia (Mallori Johnson), don’t have much to go on. A forward address from the trial twenty years ago leads them to Divine, the “healer,” in the middle of a sermon. She’s dressed for either preaching or a fancy cocktail party; it could really go either way. She has a shrine to the Monster. While he may not have abused her, he abandoned her, and the man acquitted for setting fire to his wife and twin girls is held in such high esteem in the house of Divine that she’s retained his shaving cream and deodorant in a place of honor.
Did I mention the twins are telepathic? They are only telepathic between themselves; it’s still a great
gimmick. They hold entire conversations without moving their mouths. The screen text supplies what we would otherwise miss. They also refer to one another as “Twin” which seems right to me. This is going to be one of my favorite screenplays of 2026, no doubt.
Is God Is is a messed-up film, a seriously messed-up film. And I absolutely loved it. It is easy to be put off by Anaia’s burn scars or the bloody violence or the stark simplicity or maybe just the fact that you wouldn’t actually want to meet any of the people in this film IRL … but I sure-as-Hell loved them on the big screen. I have no idea what the future holds for Kara Young, Mallori Johnson, and writer/director Aleshea Harris, but I gotta see more of all of them.
From the confusing title to the rock-wielding burn-victim heroics, Is God Is clearly challenges any potential supporters. You gotta buy in to a load of weird, and a vengeful sense of justice. But if you can do that, this film is a wonderful ride replete with start-to-finish low-grade insanity.
There once lived two telepathic twins
They each sported scarring from flammable skins
But their mother had worse
And while dying, she’d curse
Insisting her girls get vengeance with patricidal sins
Rated R, 100 Minutes
Director: Aleshea Harris
Writer: Aleshea Harris
Genre: F***-ed up movies
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Me
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Pick a reason, any reason
