This feature contains spoilers from the film Is God Is.
Revenge is a dish best served with an earthy, corporeal soundtrack from award-winning multidisciplinary artist Moses Sumney — at least according to director-playwright Aleshea Harris and her thrilling new film, Is God Is.
An impressive adaptation of Harris’ own 2018 stage play, Is God Is follows identical twins Racine the Rough One (Kara Young) and Anaia the Quiet One (Mallori Johnson) on their quest to exact total revenge on their violent, absentee father (Sterling K. Brown) by disfiguring them as children while burning their mother alive. Featuring additional standout performances by Vivica A. Fox, Erika Alexander and Janelle Monáe, Is God Is reframes the neo-Western genre through a Black Southern Gothic aesthetic that allows Harris to blend her commentary on domestic violence and the Black nuclear family with supernatural elements like twin telepathy. Distributed by Amazon MGM studios, Is God Is stands as one of the first legitimate awards contenders of 2026. And Sumney’s stirring score is a major reason why.
Sumney joined Is God Is after the studio reached out to him in the summer of 2024. Despite not “having any ambition to be a film composer,” Harris’ riveting, “self-assured” screenplay sold him. And, though he didn’t quite know it at the time, his decision-making was guided by unmistakable “full-circle” energy.
