Should I See IS GOD IS? Is It Demonic? How Does the Movie Represent Black Women? All This, and the Ending, Explained.
There are three main questions I’m seeing about Aleshea Harris’ film Is God Is:
Is this movie demonic?
Does it depict Black people fairly?
Should I go see it?
Naturally, the answers are nuanced, but I’ll give you my candid answers as best I can.
Synopsis / Summary
In Aleshea Harris’ movie, IS GOD IS, Racine “The Rough One” (Kara Young) and Anaia “The Quiet One” (Mallori Johnson) are inseparable twin sisters, and they have still-hot burn scars from a childhood trauma they can barely remember. Specifically, their father (Sterling K. Brown) set his wife (Vivica A. Fox) on fire in front of their twins, and then abandoned them. One random day, Racine gets a letter from their mother, Ruby, summoning them to her deathbed… which is a surprise, since they thought she had died in the fire. What she asks of them is no small task. “Make your daddy dead,” she says. “Real dead.” The twins spend the film both hunting down the Man and debating whether they should be hunting him at all.
Trailer for action-revenge film, IS GOD IS.
Is IS GOD IS Demonic?
Short Answer
IS GOD IS is a revenge action film. It’s not a horror movie, and there are no actual demons that appear on screen.
The reason people are up in arms about the film is the title: it has “God” in it, and it’s not about God. Not really. Racine calls her mama “God” as a placeholder. Anaia even questions her. “‘God?’” And Racine answers, “She made us, didn’t she?” That’s the short answer.
Better answer
The truer answer is more nuanced. “God” is a placeholder title for both twins. By extending the metaphor, we get their attitude toward their mother. She’s been absent from both of them, or at least an unseen presence. But their take on that absence is opposite.
Racine says, “It might be our last chance to see God.” That line implies that she has faith, that she wants purpose, that she believes.
Anaia says, “What she want with us now? Where’s she been at?” The subtext of that is, if she was alive all this time, why did she never come to see us? Why did she never tell us she was alive? Why did no one tell us she was alive? And why is she just now asking to see us, now that she’s leaving forever? It implies that she is bitter, that even if their mother has reappeared, the damage done by her absence is irreparable.
Both of these takes are completely valid responses, and they do make up the B plot of the film, the tension between the twins.
And then there’s the opposite of God, literally. The devil. And there’s no mistaking who that is: the man who literally set them all on fire, the man who has a tender side, the man who could convince anyone to do anything. And that’s who they’re tasked to kill.
It’s a really interesting inversion of a metaphor. In this film, I’m seeing the deities as the signifier for more practical beings, the twins’ parents. What’s even more interesting is the flipped dichotomy: God is the mother, and the devil is the father. In literature (and film), at least historically, we always see that displayed the other way around. (Eve=original sin, etc.
All that to say, No, IS GOD IS is not a demonic movie. Fundamental Christians may not appreciate the inverted metaphor, but that’s a personal interpretation and preference, nothing to do with the movie as it exists independent of analysis.
I’ll get to Divine “The Healer” (Erika Alexander) in a minute.
The subjectmatter is darker than the trailer advertises, though.
Image courtesy of Amazon MGM
Does IS GOD IS Depict Black Women Fairly?
I’m not Black. I’m brown, but take everything I say with a grain of salt, here.
The Cast and Crew
As far as practical representation, we have an all-Black, star-studded cast. The writer/director (Aleshea Harris), composer (Moses Sumney), and several makeup artists are also Black, as well as some of the crew.
Characters on Screen
As far as representation on screen by the characters, I just want to reiterate that this is an action revenge film, and the characters are not supposed to be super deep in this genre. They’re stylized. And yes, some of the characters are built on Black archetypes, but none of them felt like caricatures or stereotypes to me. Some were intentionally superficial, but then they were called out for being fake by the other characters.
[spoilers coming]
I’m talking about Divine, here. The girls’ father left their mother for Divine twenty-something years ago, and Ruby directs them to her church as their first lead. When Racine and Anaia pull up, they’re immediately put off—murder in a church? But when they walk in, they see that it’s more of a cult, and Divine is the charismatic leader.
They also see through her façade almost immediately. I mean… she has a shrine to their father with all the things he left behind… when he left her… while she was pregnant. The twins—especially Racine—question those choices, and her divinity, aloud almost immediately.
Homage and Allusion to Black History
Father Divine
Speaking of Divine, there’s no way that she (The Healer) is not an homage to Father Divine. His legacy is pretty complex, but to summarize, he both led a cult in Harlem and championed Civil Rights and gender equality. If you want to read a little more about him, check out this PBS article. If you want to read a lot more about him, check out Jill Watts’ book. Or listen to this podcast.
The Silent Twins
You know how Racine and Anaya communicate telepathically? That seems to be inspired by a true story. In real-life Wales, identical twins June and Jennifer Gibbons were so marginalized that they started rejecting communication with other people at the age of three. They developed their own language to talk to one another and committed a spree of vandalism and arson. They’re also an example of the shared psychosis phenomenon also known as “folie à deux.” Journalist Marjorie Wallace wrote this book about them. There’s also a film based on their story. And, if you want to hear June’s story from June herself, you can listen to the podcast on BBC.
Image from Rotten Tomatoes
Should I See IS GOD IS?
That depends. Are you a person who…
…Loves a Smart, Tight Script?
I do! Any almost any time a film is adapted from a stage play, I love the dialogue. I think that’s because, onstage, the script has to be strong—you can’t rely on the special effects or editing or movie magic to carry you through. This story definitely delivered. IS GOD IS was adapted from the critically acclaimed 2018 off-Broadway play by the same name and writer (Aleshea Harris), and it shows. The dialogue is so believable, even when it’s subtitled because they’re communicated telepathically.
If you’re a person who can’t enjoy a movie that doesn’t have a solid story—and this one is both plot and character driven—then you’ll like IS GOD IS.
…Enjoys a Film with a Flawless, Gritty Aesthetic?
Camerawork
You can’t have a great action film without great cinematography and editing. So, thank you, experts. You really made this story sing.
One aspect I especially loved: thank you for conveying the passage of time in such an interesting way. I could tell how long the twins had been on the road because of how many bathroom breaks they made, and, on my next road trip, I’m getting out of the car at the state signs to dance, too.
Image from Rotten Tomatoes
The Costuming, Hair, and Makeup
Not only do the costumes, hair, FX, and makeup fit the characters, but they fit the mood of the characters.
For example, it makes sense that the twins would have a low-maintenance (ish) hairstyle like braids, but it also makes sense that they would be extra long and platinum blonde. And when they’re tired of traveling? Of course the hair goes up in a pineapple.
And Ruby. Wow. That follow-shot into her bedroom, where all the three women work on her braids together. What a stunning frame.
While I’m talking about that moment, let me laud the foley artist who amplified the clicking of the acrylic nails while the women braided! Authenticity! (It’s so loud when it’s right by your ear, too.)
I won’t go into the politics of natural/processed hair and the pressures of styling, but suffice it to say, I think the hairstyles embodied the characters really well. It tracks that Ruby would have similar, long braids to her girls. The styles of Divine and The New Wife (Janelle Monet) also seem really apt for the image those characters want to portray to the world around them.
(Please note: I’m not judging any of the characters aesthetic choices here, only commenting that the choices let the viewer know how that character wants to be seen.)
The makeup effects of the burn scars really embody the characters of the twins, too, and they are a major plot point… that the parents explain differently.
…Believes Women?
One might think The Rough One would have more severe burning than The Quiet One, but when we learn what gave them the scars to begin with, then it makes sense.
When Ruby tells her daughters the story of that day, she explains that the Man choked her till she was unconscious, put her in the bathtub, covered her in gas (or something flammable), and told the girls, “Let’s wake up mommy.” He then set her on fire.
The girls tried to help her. That’s how they got burned.
Anaia, The Quiet One, tried to help more. That’s why her burns were worse.
It tracks, because when they finally do meet the Man, Racine is ready to murder him and move on. But Anaia, no. She hears him out. (See? Sweet.)
Surprise: his story is different. Yes, he set their mother on fire, but that was when he was younger, and a different man, frustrated because she wouldn’t let him hold her. (You can hear me rolling my eyes, right? I mean, I can totally hear a man justifying his actions that way, so it does sound authentic, but it is also a bullshit explanation.)
He would never set his girls on fire though. No, he says, Ruby tried to grab them.
I know he had Anaia going in that moment, but I just could not. You set your wife on fire, but she grabbed her daughters while she was on fire about to die? And that makes her worse than you? Even if that was true, Nope. Get out of here with that comparison.
Of course, Ruby does not get to defend her story, but if you’re a person who believes women, then you don’t need to hear her tell it again.
And if you ever doubted Ruby for a moment, you get your confirmation at the end, when the Man grabs Racine.
Do I have questions and qualms about the film? Of course I do, but the conversation and thought that hangs with the viewer afterward is almost as important as the experience of watching the film. After all, shouldn’t art make us think?
IS GOD IS releases in theaters in the U.S. on Friday, May 15, 2026.
If this story stuck with you, then you might also like…
—The Roots Of GET OUT Run Long, Deep… And Undead
—MOTHER MARY Lacks Plot, but It Does Have a Magical Negro Trope and Divine / Controversial Costumes
—San Pedro Claver: The Slave of the Slaves?
