Playwright, and director Aleshea Harris makes her film debut with Is God Is, based on her 2018 play of the same name. She brings along a cast mixing veterans like Vivica A. Fox and Sterling K. Brown but focuses on Kara Young who broke out in Boots Riley's I'm a Virgo as well as Mallori Johnson who played a big role in Kindred based on Octavia Butler's book.
It's a revenge story. Two sisters, scarred with burns caused by their father are living the best life they can. Racine has less scars and is considered the rough one, because she's pretty enough to still be rough. Anaia has more scars, and is the quiet one, because everyone thinks she's too emotional. The twins get a letter from the mother they thought was dead. Racine calls her God, and they set off to see her. Their mother Ruby, sends them on a quest of revenge, kill their father. Known only as The Monster or The Man, he's left a trail of broken homes and people for them to follow.
There is a surprising amount of comedy in the film, and it is welcome. There are some heavy things in the film and the comedy always seems like a perfect break. I didn't know it was based on a play when I bought my ticket, but I kept thinking some elements were very play like. That doesn't make the film any less enjoyable. In fact, it may make the film better. It's a short film, and if it wasn't based on a play we may have spent a lot of time on side characters. Don't get me wrong, I love all the side characters. Divine and her cult left me with so many questions. Chuck Hall had me laughing out loud in the theater. I would love more on these characters, but sometimes a film can drag when too much time is spent on side characters. At the end of the day, it's a film about Racine and Anaia, so that's who we follow.
I think the one thing that disappointed me about the film is that there were themes that weren't touched on. Ruby was a victim of domestic violence, but she also decided it would be better just abandon the girls afterwards. She also couldn't even remember Anaia's name. In flashbacks we saw her doting on Racine because Anaia was too emotional. While not the main antagonist of the film, she's still an antagonist in my mind. How do you abandon your children, one of which you never seemed to care for, then just ask them to commit a murder?
Racine is as bad as The Monster, but hasn't had the chance to embrace it yet. I say this, because throughout the film she gets more and more eager to commit violence. Not only that, she revels in it. We watch her manipulate Anaia throughout the movie the same way their father manipulated Ruby, Chuck and even Divine. She likes the fact that she's the pretty one and while she gets upset when anyone puts her sister down, we watch her do it the entire movie.
Lastly, a lot, too much really, has been said about the film's depiction of Black men and misogynoir. I didn't see anything wrong with the portrayals of Black men in the movie. Sterling K. Brown plays The Monster, and does what Monsters do. Ezekiel seems malicious, but he's a cult. He does what people in cults do, that's not a statement about Black men. Chuck is a slimy lawyer, and he pays for that. He doesn't keep being a slimy lawyer after. Is Scotch a misogynistic rich kid party boy? Absolutely, but again, that's not a statement about Black men because Riley is the exact opposite. Riley has a violent outburst, but that's just fight or flight. There is nothing in this movie that says Black men are evil. I've lived my entire life as a Black man and none of the male characters in this movie offended me. We're letting men who wear kufis because it matches their fit do entirely too much talking, and treating them with too much seriousness.
Maybe I'm an idiot, but I didn't actually think misogynoir is what the film was about. I don't think it even touches on that topic. I think the film is more about generational trauma and avoiding destinies that are created for us. We watch as Racine embraces the idea of being able to kill their father because half of her his made from him. Anaia got the worst of the burns, but she's moved past looking for revenge. She's trying to move on with her life and not get dragged into the past. While Racine thinks she's been sent on a divine quest from their mother to slay the Monster. Racine is trapped in that circle of violence that her parents birthed her in and she's willing to stay on that path just as much as Ezekiel. Anaia is the only one who questions if life has to be the way it is. When she voices that to Riley, he questions it too because why do they have to live that way? Who says we have to be like our parents or honor their every desire? Nobody is willing to question that throughout the film except Anaia and they all suffer for it.
I don't use my online platform to talk about Black women hating Black men, so I didn't sit down hoping for the film to be problematic so I can argue on Twitter and hopefully get a check from Elon. I don't expect every Black woman to have misogynoir on her mind at all hours of the day. Perhaps that's why I was able to pick up on other themes of the film.
It could be that we all went into the film and saw a reflection of the monsters that we carry with us.
Darrell is an author, YouTube Historian and cultural worker. You can check out more of his work here.
