Nearly two months after its premiere, Is God Is has earned a spot on Variety‘s list of the best movies of the year so far.
The film is the screen adaptation of director Aleshea Harris’ play of the same name. Speaking to ABC Audio, Aleshea described the transition from a play to film as a “learning curve.”
“I’m a theater person. I had barely been on a set. So I needed to understand the rules of writing for the screen, which are different. And I needed think about the tools that I had as a filmmaker that I didn’t have on the stage that could work in my favor,” she said. “So it was a lot about thinking about images differently, thinking about how much language was necessary.”
The film stars Kara Young and Mallori Johnson as twin sisters Anaia and Racine, who set out on a revenge mission against their father after he tried to kill them and their mother in a fire, leaving them with severe burn scars. The cast also includes Janelle Monáe, Erika Alexander, Vivica A. Fox and Sterling K. Brown.
Aleshea said collaborating with them was her “favorite aspect of working on the movie.”
“They were so kind and they believed in me and trusted me as a first-time filmmaker,” she said. “There was also from them a protective energy. I could tell that they wanted me to win. They wanted the movie to win, and it was such a delight on set to get to work with them.”
In its review, Variety praises Kara and Mallori for “holding their own against” against the supporting cast. It notes, “[T]hey’re the year’s most electric double act so far.”
Of Aleshea, the publication adds that she “is conversant in the languages of both ruthless exploitation cinema and radical feminist theatre, with filmmaking brio to match. Whatever she makes next, here’s hoping more attention is paid.”
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