When Moses Sumney was first approached about working on the music for the film adaptation of playwright Aleshea Harris’ Is God Is, his initial response was an immediate, resounding no.
“I never wanted to score movies,” the lauded indie singer-songwriter and actor tells The Hollywood Reporter with a light chuckle. “I’ve scored short films and it’s always been a lovely experience, but even just from that, I’m always like, “OK, this is really hard.”
Then he read the script, and his tone quickly changed. “It was just so undeniably brilliant,” Sumney says, deciding to make the leap into the world of film composition. “I had a meeting with Aleshea early on, and I could see that she was such a brilliant mind.”
Sumney was familiar with Is God Is, and its story of two twin girls seeking out revenge against their father, before the music offer. He recalls having first met Harris a few years ago at the home of fellow playwright Jeremy O. Harris (no relation), back when she was receiving praise for the play. In his initial conversations with Aleshea Harris after signing on, Sumney says the director “made it clear this was a version of the American Western.”
“She was inspired by Western films, and of course, Tarantino revenge flicks,” Sumney says. “But what was interesting about this Western was that every character is Black, and it traverses through the American South. I was really interested synthesizing the sounds of the American South with the concept of heading west.”
