Film Review: IS GOD IS (2026): Aleshea Harris’ Film is Wildly Intriguing and a True Original

Is God Is Review

Is God Is (2026) Film Review, a movie written and directed by Aleshea Harris and starring Mallori Johnson, Kara Young, Sterling K. Brown, Vivica A. Fox, Mykelti Williamson, Xavier Nealy-Davis, Janelle Monáe, Erika Alexander, Xavier Mills, Josiah Cross, Justen Ross, Lena Clark, Rhonda Johnson Dents, Mark Druhet and Alisha ‘LeeLah’ Moore.

Is God Is marks the daring feature film debut of rising filmmaker Aleshea Harris. Mallori Johnson and Kara Young star in the movie in two of the year’s most fearless performances. Johnson and Young portray two very different sisters, Anaia and Racine, who are bound by blood and by a past that involves an abusive father (Sterling K. Brown) who set their mother, Ruby (Vivica A. Fox), on fire which led to a chain of events that altered all three females’ lives forever.

This film begins with the premise of Ruby asking the two daughters to take vengeance against the dad played by Brown. Anaia and Racine are fired from their office jobs because of their unruly response to the way they are treated by those around them, particularly a woman who seems disturbed by their visible scars. Both women were burn victims who were scarred at the time their mom was set ablaze by their father.

In short order, Ruby makes a deal that Anaia and Racine must take out the father once and for all to settle the score for good and the daughters hit the road on the journey for revenge per their mom’s request. Anaia is more visibly burnt than Racine. Racine is still able to live a somewhat better life than her sister due to the placement of her scars. As the plot continues, though, there is soon a man in pursuit of the two young women who carries a hammer-like weapon.

Eventually, the women must face the wrath of their horrible father and must fight for their lives after one of them kills a key male character or two whose identities shouldn’t be revealed in this review. There are distinct differences between Anaia and Racine. For one, Anaia is more forgiving and open to receive any kind of love she can get from the outside world. She feels she knows she may be ugly to most but is accessible to feelings of forgiveness towards those who hurt or threaten to hurt her.

Racine, on the other hand, is a virtual warrior who doesn’t take any prisoners. She’s vicious and dangerous even though she’s a good daughter and an even better sister. Kara Young makes this role her own and commands the viewer’s attention with a go-for-broke performance that is one of the best of the year thus far. Young has the showier role because Racine doesn’t have as much of a longing or need to be accepted by others like Anaia. Racine is who she is and is unapologetic for going after what she wants.

All bets are off when the sisters confront their dad who makes a grand entrance into the movie, feet first. We see him walk into a house, change his shoes and then it is revealed that Sterling K. Brown is portraying the monster of a man dad.  Brown plays his part to perfection towards the film’s conclusion, adding vicious intensity to his role.

There is a lot of violence in Is God Is that serves a distinct purpose in this film’s plot. Brown’s character is told that Anaia is pregnant so shows her some mercy towards the end of the picture. However, the question becomes whether or not Racine will show the father mercy and who will sacrifice their life in the name of family – Anaia or Racine?

Vivica A. Fox steals the film whenever she’s on screen. When she shows her daughters her scars that are underneath the sheets of her bed, the film makes it clear that Brown’s father character must pay. Fox is volatile and successful in making the mother character plausible and accessible.

Sterling K. Brown leaves a huge stamp on the audience with his vicious, layered turn as a devil of a human being. Anaia and Racine face/off against him with results that could be nerve-wracking to watch. While the conclusion isn’t necessarily a totally happy one, it’s a necessary one to tell this tale of vengeance successfully.

Kara Young runs away with her role in the picture, offering a layered turn as Racine. She is vulnerable and totally wild and unpredictable. Young never sugarcoats the character even a little bit and is more believable as a result. Johnson, as the more sensitive character, Anaia, is sensational as well. Young and Johnson play off each other with masterful techniques that manifest themselves through the intense sequences in which their lives are put in danger by those who threaten to jeopardize their plans for revenge.

Brown has never been so formidable an opponent on-screen and watching him be so evil as he’s cast against type is like watching a master thespian at work. As stated, Fox more than holds her own in such a fine ensemble as the one featured in Is God Is.

Ultimately, Is God Is turns out to be a powerful portrait of the bond between a pair of sisters who feel like violent, but powerfully constructed, incarnations of characters like those in Thelma & Louise. Is God Is ends up being a tough watch due to its excessive violence, but it’s a film that is so wildly original that it cannot be ignored. It marks a visionary new director’s welcome to the world of amazing feature length filmmaking.

Rating: 8/10

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