Culture

Now Playing: ‘Is God Is’, a fantastic female revenge film

By: Gordon Briggs
Posted on: Tuesday, May 26, 2026

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“I want you to make your daddy dead.”

That’s the bizarre request a mother makes of her two estranged daughters, which sets off a series of violent events in Is God Is, a brutal, biblical, and beautiful revenge/road movie that’s one of the standouts of 2026.

Here, we follow African-American twin sisters Racine and Anaia, who are ordered by their mother (whom they call God) to find and kill their estranged, abusive father to exact vengeance for the fire that scarred them all. Now, the two must undertake a violent road trip across the American South that will change their relationship forever.

Firstly, the film has a memorable style. Adapting her own play, writer-director Aleshea Harris blends the  comedy of a buddy film with the darkness of Southern Gothic fiction. For instance, I love how the Father’s face is largely kept offscreen. Rather, the film frames him in a menacing, highly symbolic way. For much of the narrative, the audience only sees him from the mouth down or views his menacing footwear, which builds tension and paints him as an untouchable figure of systemic abuse.

Visuals aside, what gives the film impact is the combative relationship between these two sisters. Even while the two characters can be funny, their relationship is built on shared trauma and unmistakable co-dependency. Specifically, because the two have been isolated from the rest of the world, they rely entirely on one another for survival on their mission to hunt down their abusive father.

While Racine is entirely consumed by anger and a thirst for violent retribution, Anaia wrestles with her conscience, demonstrating a stronger desire to heal and find joy rather than just exacting violent emotional validation. That leads to plenty of tense, darkly humorous scenes in which one sister wants to forgive, while the other wants blood.

You could enjoy the film simply as a story of female revenge. However, as the journey unfolds, you appreciate Is God Is as an angry and timely criticism of patriarchy and toxic masculinity’s generational effects on women. Writer and director Aleshea Harris’ work actively rejects the idea that women (specifically Black women) must endure abuse quietly, suffer with grace, and hide their anger for the sake of societal comfort.

The end result is a violent, vital movie that is very much worth seeing. ★★★★