Is God Is - Review: Burn It All Down

 

The traditions of storytelling in the American south could quite easily be compared to the epic Greek poems of thousands of years ago. As the sensibilities and mythology of that part of the nation evolved over the decades, the subgenre of Southern Gothic storytelling emerged. Writer/director Aleshea Harris has taken her own off-Broadway play and adapted it for the screen in her film directorial debut, crafting a quintessential version of the kind of tale that subgenre was born out of.

“Is God Is” follows Racine and Anaia, played by Kara Young (“Master,” “I’m a Virgo”) and Mallori Johnson (“Kindred,” “The Other Zoey”) respectively, twin sisters who were disfigured by a horrific accident when they were young. After the long thought dead mother they refer to as God, played by Vivica A. Fox (“Kill Bill,” “Set It Off”), contacts them, she reveals that the accident was actually caused by their father, played by Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us,” “American Fiction”), and her last dying wish is for the two of them to find him and kill him.

This is a tightly wound type of film, and Harris keeps things right on track the entire time. She has a confident and assured vision for this tale, likely informed by her experiences crafting the pre-existing stage version. It’s quick, it’s energetic, and she never lets it slow down for a moment. At no point does Racine and Anaia’s adventure drag, whirling along with deep tension and life that makes it feel like it is over as soon as it begins. This is again a testament to Harris’s direction, but also to her script. It crackles throughout, with dialogue shooting out like lightning between the various players of this story. There’s certainly darkness, tension, and dower subject matter, but it also feels full of life and humor found in the gutters of a horrific tale such as this.

Young and Johnson are absolutely terrific together. They have a chemistry that can only come from a sibling bond as tight as the one they’re representing, and they barrel through the film’s harshest subject matter hand in hand. Young is fierce and borderline terrifying at times, while Johnson gets the majority of the calmer, sweeter material but not lacking in her own bits of ferociousness. Fox is a commanding presence for her brief appearance, and Brown is weaponizing his tender voice and likability to deliver a menacing and evil kind of performance that haunts the entire film.

A surrounding supporting cast of smaller characters all perform well. Janelle Monáe (“Glass Onion,” “Hidden Figures”) makes a brief, heartbreaking appearance as the New Wife to Racine and Anaia’s father. Erika Alexander (“Living Single,” “American Fiction”) makes a charged, charmed, and brief appearance as another of their father’s former wives, Divine the Healer. Rounding things out, Mykelti Williamson (“Con Air,” “Fences (2016)”) appears as the father’s lawyer Chuck Hall and manages to do a lot with no words and eyes full of fear. They each make a sharp and impactful mark, lining themselves up like dominos on the twin’s journey, leaving you wanting just a few more minutes with each.

Given the film’s smaller budget, much of this story is located in the small-town American south. Harris makes excellent use of single locations and wide-open fields, letting the vastness help to build the scope of the film and further emphasize the division between the twins and their approaches to the task. It’s a gorgeously empty film in its very stark and specific settings and viewpoints, and Joseph Shirley’s (“Jackass Forever,” “The Book of Boba Fett”) musical score scratches along with a similarly vacant sound.

“Is God Is” feels like the kind of Greek epic poems that were written years ago, meant to tell the tales of tragic heroes and their journeys, but for southern gothic genre. Its two leads are fantastic, and it flies by with a whip smart, wryly funny, deeply intense script and effortless pacing. If you can stomach the violence and tragedy, you’ll find a story full of perseverance and life and sisterly love. This is a deeply engrossing and truly unique vision of this kind of story. 4.5/5