And the movie art cycle continues. One of the joys of watching movies is seeing how a filmmaker gets influenced by something, then they incorporate that something in their thing, making it a brand new thing that becomes the next filmmaker’s something. I really hope Is God Is becomes one of those films, as Aleshea Harris has taken her play and now made it a part of this beautiful filmmaking legacy. Worst case? She just made a hella fun movie.
Poor twins Racine (the Rough One, played by Kara Young) and Anaia (the Quiet One, played by Mallori Johnson). When they were very young the Monster (Sterling K. Brown) set their mother Ruby the God (Vivica A. Fox) on fire, burning her and almost killing them in the process. Working dead end jobs in the North in the US, Racine receives a letter from God who they thought was dead. Ruby’s not dead, but dying, and has one last wish for the twins: make the Monster, their daddy, dead.
The nice part about a playwright adapting their own play is a firm understanding of the story’s characters and tone, but with a movie’s sensiblity. Aleshea Harris turns her play into an unholy combination of Blaxsploitation revenge movie and Western (even though it’s set in the South). That combo paints a sheen on the story, giving it edge and style for days. Anaia and Racine go from person to person in these little towns, sorta like cowboys on their horses (in this case, a beat up Oldsmobile) traveling from town to town hunting for their bounty. Harris takes each of these travelogues and turns them into heightened western movie versions of the black experience in the United States: a dying aging confidant, a twisted version of church, the fast talking salesman type, a jilted lover, and, eventually, high noon at the big town square with the bad guy. Harris assembles a host of great actors to pull all of this off. I particularly loved Erika Alexander’s Divine the Healer, and Sterling K. Brown, usually a beacon of hope and emotional understand, has never been this horrifying, looming large as he enters frame in the third act.
Anchoring all of this Kara Young and Mallori Johnson, the twins. This is one of the better movie examples showing a twin relationship. Kara and Mallori couldn’t be more opposite in their approach to life, clearly informed by where their burns are (Kara’s got a bad arm, poor Mallori has them all over her face). They bicker like all sisters do, but much deeper than that is a profound understanding of who the other is. Aleshea Harris has them both have whole Twin ESP conversations, writing the words on the screen while Young and Johnson act with their faces only. It’s two great performances that feel sometimes as one. That relationship evolves as the two get closer to the Monster, as the more hesitant Anaia watches Racine take on the more unsavory parts of her genetic inclinations, worrying that Racine could be consumed by her anger and revenge. Kara Young and Mallori Johnson make this conflict almost as compelling as the big setpieces themselves, thanks to their commitment to their parts and understanding of who each twin is.
I hope Is God Is becomes a classic for many. I almost would like Aleshea Harris to release a director’s cut. She’s got the right ending, but could add one more scene to completely sell it and make the movie necessary viewing for everyone. I also want Harris to make sibling ESP part of her thing. Sextuplets that can telepathically connect with one another in an action movie mayhem shoot em up? I’m giddy just thinking about it.