Aleshea Harris on Channeling Rage, Myth, and Black Womanhood in Is God Is

Is God Is isn’t interested in playing it safe or holding back punches and that’s what makes it hit. One of Taji Mag’s most anticipated films of 2026, the adaptation of Aleshea Harris’s acclaimed play blends revenge, dark humor, and generational trauma into something that feels both theatrical and deeply cinematic. It’s a story rooted in family, patricide, and survival, but what stays with you is its refusal to simplify pain or soften its edges.

I caught up with Harris to talk about translating the play to screen, the influences behind its bold style, and why giving Black women access to rage felt essential.

Q: What felt most important to preserve when translating the play into a film?

Aleshea Harris:
So it was really important to me to keep the punk sensibility, the no-holds-barred attitude, not to shrink or apologize with this film. I was trying to do something that was a little left of center with the play, so I wanted to keep that spirit with the movie, even though I knew it was something we wanted a lot of people to see, but to bring them along to this thing that was a little bit different.

Q: The film pulls from a lot of different influences. What shaped its tone?

Harris:
Yeah. So it started out—it was very much inspired by ancient Greek tragedy. So I have to name that Medea could be an example of an influence. The size of the family drama, the sort of epic nature of an eye for an eye, like blood for blood—that’s a huge influence.

Quentin Tarantino. I did go back and rewatch Kill Bill when I was writing the play. Kill Bill for sure. Once Upon a Time in the West. I May Destroy You.

I definitely looked at Westerns when I was making the movie, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, when I was writing the play, for sure, in those early days. I was thinking about that.

And just, again, I think the movement, I would say the Afro-punk movement, the sensibility of that, of being on the outside, this countercultural expression of Blackness, definitely gave me a lot of fuel and affirmation as I wrote the play that became this movie.

Q: One of the most striking elements is the nonverbal communication. How did you approach that?

Harris:
Oh, thank you so much for saying that. So the reason that is in the film is that in the play, the language dances all over the page. There’s a lot of play with typography, and I wanted to find a way to bring that over into the movie.

In the play, we don’t have these moments of silence where characters are just looking at each other and having their thoughts. But I realized that felt organic to the story. So what I wanted to do to translate that typographical performance was to let those thoughts become subtitles—letting the characters look at each other and playfully express that inner dialogue within the scene.

I’m glad that it resonated.

Q: Casting someone like Sterling K. Brown in such a dark role feels very intentional. What was behind that choice?

Harris:
First of all, you start with the fact that Sterling is an incredible actor. He’s exceptional, and he was so excited to play this role. And he and I both understand how he exists in the consciousness. Exactly what you said. He’s a good guy, right? So the script calls for a good guy who then turns bad just to be subversive. 

I thought it was more interesting to lead with someone who would present as a Sterling presents. Sterling is just amazing. He can do anything. He has such a deep well that I knew he could play the soft man who’s now in the suburbs and also this Terrible. What’s underneath all of that, right?

Q: The film also speaks directly to misogyny and patriarchy. Why was that important to center?

Harris:
We can’t talk about misogyny without talking about the patriarchy inside this film. I think that I really wanted to challenge things that I find problematic, right? 

The ways that women are treated, the ways that Black women are treated, and to give these women agency and access to their rage, at having been mishandled by men, abused by men, I thought was a really important expression for people to see.

Q: Early reactions have been strong. How does it feel to have one of the most talked-about films of the year?

Harris:
(Laughs) I appreciate that. It’s still early—but thank you.

Is God Is arrives in theaters May 15 with a mix of humor, horror, and raw, unapologetic violence rooted in trauma and survival. It makes you sit in discomfort. And when it’s over, there’s a lot to unpack—especially around morality, and just how unsettling the Man, played by Sterling K. Brown, really is.