# Is God Is (2026) Review: Twin Sisters on a Holy Errand > Is God Is is Aleshea Harris's screen version of her own play: a Southern Gothic revenge road trip that is ferocious, mythic and startlingly funny. Canonical: https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/is-god-is-review/ Published: 2026-05-16 Last updated: 2026-10-02 Author: Kaiser Khan — Founder & Editor Language: English Review basis: direct-viewing Spoilers: none Editorial approval: 2026-10-02 Viewing confirmed: 2026-10-02 ## Verdict Yes. It is one of 2026's boldest American films, best for viewers who like stylised, theatrical storytelling and can take dark comedy about real cruelty. ## Is *Is God Is* worth watching? **Yes. Is God Is is a fierce, strange and often very funny revenge film, and one of the most distinctive American debuts of 2026.** Aleshea Harris brings her own play to the screen without sanding off its heightened language or its mythic scale, and Kara Young and Mallori Johnson give the twin sisters at its centre a bond that feels both tender and dangerous. The one caution is that its theatrical style is a choice, not an accident: viewers who want naturalistic drama may find it mannered. ## What is *Is God Is* about? Twin sisters Racine and Anaia were scarred as children in a fire set by their father. Years later, a letter arrives from their dying mother with a single instruction: find the man who disfigured them and kill him. [Is God Is](https://celluloidscore.com/movies/is-god-is/) follows the sisters as they take that command literally, setting out across the American South on a road trip that is equal parts pilgrimage and hunt. Kara Young plays Racine and Mallori Johnson plays Anaia. Sterling K. Brown is the father at the end of the road, and Janelle Monáe and Vivica A. Fox complete a small, strong ensemble. Harris, the playwright, adapts her own award-winning stage work and directs it herself. It is an American production in English and runs 100 minutes. ## A revenge story told like scripture The title tells you how the film thinks. For the sisters, their mother's word carries the weight of divine law, and Harris frames their journey the way a preacher might frame a parable: in bold strokes, with repetition and a sense of fate hanging over every stop. The dialogue keeps the rhythm of the stage, clipped and incantatory, and Harris is smart enough to let that stylisation stand rather than dressing it up as ordinary conversation. The Southern Gothic setting does the rest, giving the film the feel of an old western relocated to the contemporary South, where every stop on the road seems to carry a history nobody wants to discuss. The result is a thriller that moves with the deliberate pace of a myth, and it is all the more unnerving for it. ## Kara Young and Mallori Johnson as one fractured soul The film rests on its two leads, and they are superb. Young gives Racine a coiled, protective anger, the sister who has decided what she believes and will not be argued out of it. Johnson plays Anaia with more doubt and more vulnerability, and the push and pull between them becomes the film's real subject. The scars are never treated as a gimmick; the damage shows most in the silences between the two women. What is most surprising is how funny they are. The humour comes from the sisters' deadpan certainty in absurd situations, and Harris uses laughter as a pressure valve rather than a release, so a joke often lands a beat before something hard. Brown, one of the most reliable dramatic actors in American film, is cast smartly against his usual warmth, and Monáe and Fox give the supporting roles real presence. ## Where the stage still shows Harris's fidelity to the play is mostly a strength, but not entirely. A few scenes play like staged confrontations with a camera pointed at them, and the middle of the road trip occasionally circles its ideas instead of advancing them. Some viewers will also find the tonal mix, comedy pressed right up against child abuse and domestic violence, hard to settle into. These are the costs of a film that refuses to be conventional, and on balance they are worth paying. ## Who should watch *Is God Is*? It is best for viewers who like genre films with a point of view: revenge thrillers that are really about family, faith and inherited damage. Fans of theatre on screen will be especially well served. At 100 minutes it is compact, but not light. The film deals directly with arson, burns, child abuse and domestic violence, and includes violence and strong language, so it is for adults. If it works for you, try these next: - [Get Out](https://celluloidscore.com/movies/get-out-2017/), for another American thriller that uses dark comedy to sharpen its anger. - [One Battle After Another](https://celluloidscore.com/movies/one-battle-after-another-2025/), for a wilder, more sprawling mix of family, violence and satire. - [Gone Girl](https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/gone-girl-2014-review/), for a colder study of rage and the stories families tell about themselves. ## The verdict Is God Is is a bracing, confident debut from a filmmaker who knows exactly what she wants her story to feel like. The theatrical style and tonal risks will not suit everyone, but the lead performances, the mythic Southern Gothic atmosphere and the fearless humour make it one of the year's essential American films. ## Related title - [Is God Is (2026)](https://celluloidscore.com/movies/is-god-is/) ## Editorial - [Editorial standards](https://celluloidscore.com/about/editorial-policy/) - [Report a correction](https://celluloidscore.com/about/corrections/)