Bold yet surprisingly emotional, Is God Is inverts the formula made popular by Tarantino types to deliver a nuanced contemplation on revenge and abuse that centres the female experience and perspective. it utilizes much of the genre tropes (elaborately larger than life characters and cartoonish yet shocking violence) to examine the American experience of intimate partner violence and its gendered performance. A talented cast the truly shows up for this story makes it all work so remarkably even if there are some short cuts. Is God Is becomes a gut punch that has a voice.
I want to shout out Young and Johnson who play the central characters with a sensitivity within the hyper-stylized world of Is God Is. They are under layers of make-up and are playing out a morality play that is less based in the real world, yet they make their characters so wonderfully rich and real. Their quest for revenge against a world that mistreats them and the specific man who is most responsible is something you feel as the audience.
Is God Is' strength is in how it doesn't let go of its gender critique. It knows the roots of the violence it is exposing and it doesn't let it slip. There are times the film presents characters meant to be morally ambiguous or even redeemable and it pulls that rug from us to highlight how pervasive male on female violence is and how much those on the periphery of the violence support it. Is God Is doesn't blink despite how much we may want it to. We want to be able to turn away but so much of what this film does prevents us from doing so.
By the time the film reaches its conclusion its audience is shaken and hopefully rethinking a lot of what we want to think about these issues. Writer/director Harris has a powerful vision and voice and I hope we see a lot more of her in the world of cinema.
Is God Is
Starring: Kara Young, Mallori Johnson, Janelle Monáe, Erika Alexander, Mykelti Williamson, Vivica A. Fox, Sterling K. Brown
Writer/Director: Aleshea Harris
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