Is God Is

When movie rating aggregation sites give a film high marks, one should expect that the picture delivers the goods (after all, those grades don’t spontaneously materialize out of thin air). But there are times when a vastly overrated release inexplicably (and undeservedly) gets good grades that leave one perplexed. Such is the case with the debut feature from writer-director Aleshea Harris in this adaptation of her award-winning play of the same name (2018). This unfocused, often-highly repulsive revenge thriller/road trip title with a modern-day Western vibe and Afro punk styling starts out reasonably well but degenerates about midway into the film and never recovers (I couldn’t wait to leave the theater). The film tells the story of twin sisters Racine, the rough one (Kara Young), and Anaia, the quiet one (Mallori Johnson), who are severely burned in a childhood incident when their coldly malevolent father (Sterling K. Brown) viciously attempts to kill their mother, Ruby (Vivica A. Fox). The girls, who have been parted from their mother for years (believing her to be dead), call her “God” since she, like their divine progenitor, created them. But, much to their surprise, Racine receives a letter indicating that she is still alive, a notice that prompts an in-person visit during which Ruby explains what happened and instructing them to kill him. Anaia is opposed to the idea, but Racine is all out for “justice” (i.e., vengeance). Thus begins the twins’ search to find the man who nearly killed their mother and scarred them for life, an outcome that exposed them (especially Anaia) to repeated ridicule and Racine’s highly protective measures to spare her sister’s agony. At first glance, one might see this as a plausible premise for a big screen thriller, an idea made all the more fun by its quirky attributes that, in the picture’s opening half (and in its highly misleading trailer), make the film come across like an eccentric, campy Coen Brothers production. To be sure,...

Once every few years, there comes a movie that you know - you KNOW - is gonna be a genre-defining cult classic that critics (and devout fans) are gonna talk about for years and years to come. ‘Is God Is’ is one such movie. When someone recommended it to me and I watched the trailer, I knew I was gonna love it, but I didn't know that it would, in its own right, turn out to be a masterpiece. The blend of mystery, comedy, symbolism, horror, thrill, and social commentary that Aleshea Harris (writer, director) managed to create here is so perfectly balanced and timed that it's almost impossible to believe that this was Harris' directorial debut. This, of course, is immensely helped by the fact that Kara Young and Mallory Johnson give award-worthy performances as struggling twin sisters Racine and Anaia who have to set out on a mission from ‘God’ to find the monster that wronged them and ‘make him dead.’ Needless to say, this mission proves to not be as easy (nor as hard) as both women imagined it would be. I cannot recommend this movie enough to anyone that loves a good mystery thriller and a fun ride towards the resolution of it all. I for one know I'm gonna be rewatching it multiple times before the year is over and I'm gonna be closely following Harris' career cause I know that this kind of talent cannot be a one-off.

The only problems I found with the movie were that it was partly funded by one of Hollywood's big 4 studios, and that it contains some minor elements in it that are not environnment-friendly.

That said, I have to comment on how this movie is being received. Most people who have watched it in good faith seem to share my opinion. However, I've seen a lot of (mostly bitter White men) review-bombing this masterpiece all over the place (IMDb, TMDb, elsewhere) for irrational and irrelevant reasons that will become obvious to any sober viewer after they've watched it. For instance, the only other “review” here on TMDb so far is a perfect example of this...

A really dumb movie that is aimed directly at an extremely dumb demographic. For some reason there is a small minority of people who are clapping like seals for this movie. Hmm I wonder why they are pretending to like this movie? Yup.