Is God Is: Janelle Monae & Erika Alexander Discuss Revenge

Is God Is might be the most singular movie you see all year. We feel good about that claim, and can’t wait for everyone to see it

The Mary Sue talked to Janelle Monáe, Vivica A. Fox, Erika Alexander, Kara Young, Mallori Johnson, and director/writer Aleshea Harris about their new movie . Is God Is tells a dangerous story of revenge, and personal transformation. 

Our Rachel Leishman asked the cast about how unique this story is. Summertime is usually the domain of big-budget blockbusters and the like. Is God Is strays from all of that and tells the smouldering tale of women caught up in a web of deceit. For Janelle Monáe, the story reached out to the reader from the word go.

“When I read the script, I was very blown away. I mean, I just thought Alicia’s writing was super original. It’s super hard for writers,” Monáe explained. “Whether it’s music, film, TV, to find their tone. And, I had felt the tone from the script. So, seeing it now as a film? Man, it exceeded my expectations, even more. She took it to another level.” 

“And, I was just like, this is its own language. You know, if Shakespeare had his thing, Aleshea Harris has her tone, and I think people will talk about that,” they continued. “I think she’s innovated from the folks she brought in cinematography to just the cast, like just the combination of colors throughout really makes it something special. And all its own.” 

There’s no question that the undercurrent of exploration and experimentation runs through the fabric of Is God Is. Harris deftly marries the things people loved about this play on-stage into something that still fills unexpected up on the big screen!

Is God Is and Revenge

One thing that stands out from the first images in the trailer for Is God Is are the Black women taking matters into their own hands. These ladies are not afraid to get their hands dirty or light something on fire if the need calls for it.

For writer and director Aleshea Harris, that was kind of the point. You rarely get to see a Black character, especially not a woman, exercise this kind of autonomy on screen. But it’s here in spades for this movie. We asked the filmmaker about this specific choice and how it reflects real life. The answer we got was nothing short of insightful.

“Certainly Black women characters, right? To me, it’s absolutely cathartic and it’s healing to see these Black women in their rage, unapologetically,” Harris confessed. “To give them the space to feel that emotion fully. And for them, to be messy. People have said they’re messy. These are messy people. But true to life, I’m messy. Everybody’s messy.”

The writer added, “So, it’s fun to give them that breath and that space. Because, I think it’s quite dehumanizing, the way that there’s certain politics around, how a woman conducts herself, how a Black woman in particular conducts herself. I’m just trying to disrupt some of those things and assert that we can be many things. And angry is among them, not to stay in anger. But that, yeah, why not we got things to be mad about. For sure.”

(featured image: Patti Perret/MGM Studios)

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