Story perspectives

Twin Sisters Seek Vengeance in Harris' “Is God Is”

5/12/2026

Summary

Aleshea Harris Directs

Aleshea Harris directs her feature debut “Is God Is,” which opens on May 15, 2026.
The film adapts Harris’s award-winning 2018 off-Broadway play of the same name.
Kara Young and Mallori Johnson star as twin sisters who receive a letter from their mother demanding they kill their abusive father.
Critics describe the movie as a blend of Greek tragedy, Southern Gothic, 1970s Blaxploitation and revenge thriller.

Summary

Film Contrasts

The film uses sepia tones, western framing and grainy flashbacks to create an archival look.
It contrasts the twins’ Bible Belt upbringing with their nouveau-rich California life, highlighting poverty versus affluence.
Through Erika Alexander’s preacher role and Janelle Monáe’s cameo, the film critiques religious exploitation and conspicuous wealth.
Prosthetic makeup depicts the sisters’ burn scars, reinforcing generational trauma and ongoing patriarchal violence.

Summary

Harris Blends Genres

Editors Blair McClendon and Jay Rabinowitz assembled the 99-minute cut of “Is God Is.”
Director Harris blends Quentin Tarantino dialogue, Martin McDonagh minimalism, and 1970s Blaxploitation swagger.
The twins’ revenge targets an abstract “Monster,” presenting an amoral catharsis rather than moral justice.
Alexander Dynan’s daylight cinematography shifts to comic-book noir in the climax, reinforcing the genre blend.

Summary

Harris Elevates Rage

The film provides a rare mainstream depiction of Black women’s rage, filling a Hollywood representation gap.
Director Aleshea Harris frames the sisters’ hunt for their psychopathic father as a modern Frankenstein tale.
The movie blends spaghetti-western and Black Southern Gothic, inserting Black women’s violence into white-coded genre frames and subverting white-male road-trip buddy tropes.

History

Historical Context

When MGM released Gordon Parks’s *Shaft* in July 1971, the film starring Richard Roundtree cost $500,000, earned $12.1 million domestically and won Isaac Hayes an Oscar for Best Original Song, the first Black composer to do so. The movie launched the blaxploitation wave that Aleshea Harris taps in her 2026 play *Is God Is*, echoing the genre’s lasting impact on Black-centered cinema.

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Aleshea Harris Directs

Aleshea Harris directs her feature debut “Is God Is,” which opens on May 15, 2026.
The film adapts Harris’s award-winning 2018 off-Broadway play of the same name.
Kara Young and Mallori Johnson star as twin sisters who receive a letter from their mother demanding they kill their abusive father.
Critics describe the movie as a blend of Greek tragedy, Southern Gothic, 1970s Blaxploitation and revenge thriller.

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