Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (June 29, 2026)
When I reviewed The Drama, I stated it likely will deliver the least descriptive movie title of 2026. With Is God Is, we find perhaps the most misleading title of the year.
As children, twin sisters Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson) became scarred from a fire their father (Sterling K. Brown) intentionally started. They thought this conflagration killed their mother Ruby (Vivica A. Fox) but they find out she remains alive.
Now near death, Ruby begs her daughters to find and murder their father so she can know peace before she passes. The twins agree and set out on a violent mission of revenge.
Is didn’t do much at the box office, and I must admit I suspect the title hurt it. As implied at the start, I think Is God Is fails to give audiences an accurate idea what to suspect.
Unless made otherwise obvious, any film with “God” in the title will automatically become viewed as a religious tale, though here “God” refers to the nickname the twins give to their mother since she created their lives. This one veers far from that form of spiritual message so I suspect the title confused viewers.
Which seems like a shame. A sly mix of commentary, 70s homage and revenge fantasy, Is brings a vivid journey.
At its core, Is wants to offer a pro-female tale, one that feels like an attempt to get women who allow terrible men to use and abuse them to wake up. We see how so many suffer at the hands of the twins’ father, with a clear indication that some of them enabled his horrible behavior.
Despite that theme, Is doesn’t become some kind of anti-male screed. Granted, it doesn’t paint men in a particularly positive manner, but it also lacks the one-dimensional message we might expect.
Although Is comes with a lot of dark material, it doesn’t turn into the relentless downer one might anticipate either. Indeed, we find a fair amount of comedy, mainly via the folks the twins meet on their journey.
Writer/director Aleshea Harris manages a mix of sly moments and gives the whole enterprise a 70s semi-grindhouse vibe. This doesn’t become some Robert Rodriguez-style overt homage, however, so Is integrates these impressions without obvious attempts to look/feel like a movie from decades ago.
As our leads, Young and Johnson fare very well. They convey a real attitude of sisterhood but seem different enough to stand on their own.
A strong supporting cast helps, as in addition to Brown and Fox, we find talents such as Janelle Monae, Mykelti Williamson and Erika Alexander, the others flesh out the film in a positive manner.
A deft mix of genres with a meaningful theme, Is God Is does what it sets out to do. This becomes a bracing and involving trip.
