Amazon’s Is God Is Delivers the Fiercest Revenge of 2026—and One of the Year’s Best Movies

Every now and then, a film comes out of nowhere and just slaps you across the face with how bold and original it is. Right now, that movie is 'Is God Is' — a razor-sharp, off-kilter take on the revenge thriller that’s catching fire with critics. Seriously, people are losing their minds over this one, and not without reason.

A Revenge Movie That Doesn’t Play By the Rules

Sure, the bones are what you’d expect — a pair of siblings tracking down the deadbeat dad who literally torched their lives and left their mom and them with well-earned scars (physical and psychological varieties, thanks). But in the hands of Aleshea Harris (in her first feature, no less), this turns into something way weirder and more electric than typical Hollywood vengeance: imagine a wild mashup of punk, Southern Gothic, Greek tragedy, and spaghetti western. If that sounds like too much, trust me, it works.

From Stage to Screen (with a Wild Cast)

'Is God Is' started out life as a stage play by Harris back in 2018, where it cleaned up with the critics. Now, she’s not only written and directed the movie version herself, she also produced it. That’s a lot of hats, but apparently, they all fit.

• Kara Young and Mallori Johnson lead as the sisters with a big (and justified) chip on their shoulder.
• Janelle Monae, Vivica A. Fox, and Sterling K. Brown all show up to round out a cast that could probably get you to buy tickets on their own, even if you didn’t care about artsy revenge flicks.

The People Have Spoken (And… Wow)

Let’s talk numbers: 98% on Rotten Tomatoes (as of today, with 49 reviews). That’s not just good, that’s “studios would pay for these stats” good.

Reviewers are eating this up. Check out this bit from the San Francisco Chronicle:

'Visually mesmerizing, lyrical and with a unique cadence, "Is God Is" is a one-of-a-kind experience. It’s angry and yet imbued with wry, fatalistic humor.'

Black Girl Nerds couldn’t resist giving it a perfect rating too, summing it up as:

'An intense, thrilling, and darkly funny film that explores the burden of generational trauma and reconciling with one’s capacity for violence when family is involved.'

Not to be outdone, The Guardian points out that this movie 'reframes a familiar formula into something sharper and more searching,' doing new things with old tropes about Black trauma — without drowning in them. Screen Rant called out Harris’s visuals as seriously refreshing in a movie era packed with beige, bland aesthetics. IndieWire gave it an A-, talking about the catharsis you only get from someone who knows exactly what they want to say, even when it’s ugly. The Mary Sue, also, gave it another perfect 5/5, loving the way it lets the leads be openly angry and messy without apology.

Viewers Are Just as Hyped

It’s not just critics losing their minds: regular audience members are calling this 'Definitely a must see movie,' a 'Creative revenge tale,' and — and this is slightly ahead of the game, but whatever — 'Best film of 2026 so far.' (They’re probably just excited, since it actually opens in 2024, but points for enthusiasm.) The big reason? It’s a revenge plot unlike anything people have seen before.

Release Info

'Is God Is' lands in theaters on May 15, courtesy of Orion Pictures. If you’re tired of generic thrillers and you like your cinema feverish, confrontational, and more than a little bit punk — this is your ticket.