Sterling K. Brown’s Latest Thriller Dominates Rotten Tomatoes: A Must-Watch Masterpiece

Making her directorial and screenwriting debut, playwright Alesha Harris adapts her acclaimed 2018 stage play into a gripping feature film. The story follows twin sisters on a divine mission orchestrated by their mother, portrayed by Vivica A. Fox. This mother, scarred and on her deathbed, calls upon her estranged daughters, Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson), to seek vengeance against their abusive father (played by Sterling K. Brown). Known only as The Man—or the Monster—he once attempted to kill the mother, leaving her and the daughters with severe burn injuries. Now, his actions unpunished, the mother’s final wish is for her daughters to deliver justice.

As the sisters embark on their journey, they encounter a host of eccentric characters, such as an extravagant preacher (Erika Alexander), their father’s silent attorney (Mykelti Williamson), and his new family (Janelle Monae, Xavier Mills, and Justen Ross). Despite his limited screen time, the father’s ominous presence looms large over the narrative.

Sterling K. Brown, known for his varied roles as an antagonist in series like “Supernatural,” “The Predator,” and “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” brings a new level of menace to his portrayal of The Man. Harris crafts him as a sinister yet elusive figure, haunting the story without being fully revealed. In unsettling monochrome flashbacks, the film deliberately obscures his face, enhancing his ominous aura. “I knew going in that I wanted us to obscure his face, give him an epic size by not showing every bit of him at the beginning, letting us hear a lot about him, and saving his voice until I’m ready,” Harris explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Brown’s naturally affable presence adds a chilling edge to his character’s sadistic side, making it even more disturbing.

Sterling K. Brown is no stranger to playing antagonists throughout his career in projects like “Supernatural,” “The Predator,” and even “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (where he was one of its best guest stars), but the Man is an entirely different breed of menace. 

Aleshea Harris centers him as this malevolent yet obscured figure who haunts the story. The film can hardly look at him in full profile during those unsettling black-and-white flashbacks, a technique which Harris used to her advantage. “I knew going in that I wanted us to obscure his face, give him an epic size by not showing every bit of him at the beginning, letting us hear a lot about him and saving his voice until I’m ready,” she told the Hollywood Reporter. It’s disarming because Brown is such a naturally likable presence, which makes his sadistic nature here even more upsetting. 

The Man, however, doesn’t overshadow the bond between Racine and Anaia, whose sibling relationship has its own complexities thanks to the dynamic between Kara Young and Mallori Johnson. Racine and Anaia have an entire dialogue without saying so much as a word to each other, psychically communicating like telepaths. Harris knew right away that these two actors were meant to play opposite each other after their audition. “When I put them together and they matched, I knew,” she said, adding, “They had tremendous chemistry their first time in a Zoom room together.” Yet despite their stylized rapport, the twins still have their blind spots in places.

Rather than having the twins on the same page, Aleshea Harris has them approach their revenge mission from opposite ends of the spectrum, with Racine having no qualms about doling out her rock-in-a-sock beatdowns and Anaia feeling conflicted about the potential consequences. The deconstruction of revenge doesn’t come from the conventional figures of the outside world, but from within their tug-and-pull dynamic. No other parties get a say in what should happen, other than those directly affected by The Man. 

It’s one of many complicated conversations some folks are having on social media about the film’s commentary on rage, and who benefits from it. Accountability looks very different in 2026 than it did just a few years ago, as toxic masculine figures have hijacked the narrative of what justice looks like. Harris frames the anger of wronged Black women as righteous, with the film explicitly showing how the perpetrator of violence is protected by a broken system. “The wrong is so deep and the wound is so deep for these women,” she explained to the Hollywood Reporter. “And I also think the wound is so deep for Black women that there’s a way that I’m sort of playing with what’s real and true.”

“Is God Is,” despite being praised across the board, likely won’t be in theaters for too much longer, so be sure to see it on the big screen — where it’s playing nationwide — before it hits streaming.