Making a feature film based on a play is not a task for the faint of heart. Films like Casablanca, The Father, His Girl Friday, and Stalag 17 (among many others) demonstrate the rich creative rewards when this kind of film is done right. Unfortunately, titles like Wild Mountain Thyme and The Prom endure as cautionary tales in this subgenre. Sometimes, what knocks audiences dead on stage doesn’t excel on the silver screen. Plus, some of these adaptations exude frustratingly rigid visuals. Tons of pitfalls lie in wait to the motion pictures hoping to become the next Rope.

The newest entry in this realm is Is God Is. Writer/director Aleshea Harris (making her feature film directorial debut) adapts her own 2018 Off-Broadway play of the same name for this endeavor. There are many egregious faults movies based on plays can succumb to. Is God Is, meanwhile, finds deeply specific ways to thrive. Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean have some new company in this cinematic space’s upper echelon.

Twin sisters Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallori Johnson) have to look out for each other. They’re all either one’s got in this tormented world. Years ago, their mother, Ruby the God (Vivica A. Fox), was set on fire in a bathtub by their father (known only as The Monster). While trying to save Ruby, Racine and Anaia incurred extreme burns. The former girl’s injuries materialized on one of her arms. The latter, meanwhile, had burns consume her face.

Now the grown-up Racine and Anaia live alone and isolated from the wider world. One random day, though, they receive a letter from their mother (whom they thought was dead). Lying in a bed, waiting to perish, Ruby offers her children a mission. They need to find their father and kill him. It’s a revenge mission time, a prospect each sibling has very different feelings about. Racine (who’s always used her fists confronting bullies) relishes this opportunity. Quieter Anaia, meanwhile, remains conflicted over taking a human life, even a scumbag like The Monster. Even with these disparate attitudes, the pair hit the road searching for clues about their dad’s whereabouts.

Early on in Is God Is, Racine and Anaia’s bond (as well as their “twin powers”) manifests via the duo talking through on-screen text. With one tilt of her head while brushing her teeth, Racine poses a question Anaia quickly responds to, with nary an audible word shared between the pair. It’s a clever demonstration of how deeply intertwined these two are with each other. The gothic-looking font for their unspoken chatter, meanwhile, lends extra specificity to their interactions. Best of all, though, is how this is a detail that couldn’t properly exist on stage. Right away, Aleshea Harris leans Is God Is towards material exploiting cinema’s distinct visual possibilities.

In translating this material to a new medium, Harris stalwartly commits to a fascinatingly nuanced tone and aesthetic. Sometimes, Is God Is evokes Drunken Angel’s ending in poignantly exploring contrasting grim and hopeful perspectives on the world after unspeakable tragedy. Does towering anguish inspire pervasive contempt? Is it better to cling to optimism even after the worst transpires? Other times, it’s a rip-roaring revenge yarn full of dark comedy. Then there are the quieter scenes focusing on two sisters tending to each other in an unforgiving world.

I adore how complicated, messy, and moving Racine and Anaia’s dynamic is. These intricate qualities, and the way they still have each other’s back despite their quarrels, materialize so poignantly. Meanwhile, small moments where they’re applying ice cubes to each other’s burn wounds potently communicate decades of lived-in experiences. That’s a feat Young and Johnson superbly accentuate. They effortlessly exude a believable sisterly dynamic and (in their individual turns) never lose track of their wildly varying personalities. Young, for instance, always uncovers creative, subtle ways to suggest Racine is itching for a fight. Johnson, meanwhile, deftly uses withdrawn body langauge while still ensuring viewers witness Anaia’s empathetic and emotional psyche.

Their many accomplishments even shine in the most fleeting Is God Is moments. The pair dancing in front of a sign welcoming to a new state, for instance, is only briefly seen in a montage. Young and Johnson’s physicality, though, make it unforgettable. The duo similarly celebrating after stealing an address book, meanwhile, is equally memorable thanks to the two performers’ rapport. These performances ensuring Racine and Anaia excel as characters speaks to how and why Is God Is doesn’t come off as adversely disjointed.

Whatever new aesthetic Harris takes viewers down, the two richly drawn lead characters are always at the center of the action. Racine and Anaia’s varying discoveries and emotional experiences inform the malleable atmosphere rather than getting overshadowed by the tonal shifts. It doesn’t hurt that Is God Is is also consistently and deeply entertaining. An encounter between the leads and Chuck Hall the Lawer (Mykelti Williamson), for instance, is a riot. Chuck Hall (whose lost his tongue) speaking only through words on small whiteboard should be a gag that quickly gets old. However, Harris and Williamson get plenty of hysterical mileage out of this beat during the character’s one big scene.

An encounter with The Monster’s former lover Divine the Healer (Erika Alexander) is similarly hysterical, especially through the amusingly detailed sets in Divine’s house, courtesy of production designer Freyja Bardell. Such gripping tableaus also speak to Is God Is thriving visually. This is a terrific-looking production right from the get-go through a flashback sequence concerning Racine and Anaia. This segment establishes the feature’s distinct hue for representing the past, which evokes the brown-tinged, lived-in images of A Special Day. This coloring strikingly suggests these memories have been replayed in the characters’ heads so often they’ve grown faded, like a vintage Polaroid.

This establishes a thoughtful visual precedent for the rest of Is God Is. Happily, that superb visual scheme also means this endeavor isn’t afraid of lively colors. Even a drab workplace Racine and Anaia temporarily work in features bright blue walls. A later “scandalous” sequence utilizes vibrant red lighting while green (a color associated with Mother Earth) dominates Ruby the God’s home. Is God Is dabbles in deeply heavy material ranging from trauma to internalized misogyny to classism. Thankfully, Harris realizes such weighty elements can co-exist with imagery that doesn’t exclusively dabble in off-putting drab colors.

It’s a daunting task bringing a play to the feature film format. Aleesha Harris, though, makes Is God Is feel like it’s always belonged in this medium without breaking a sweat. It’s an especially impressive feat considering this is her directorial debut. You’d never guess that given the assuredness behind the camera. A remarkable achievement on all fronts (especially in its acting and writing), Is God Is is a vengeance-fueled whirlwind not to be missed. In other words, this is no Wild Mountain Thyme 2.0.

Is God Is exacts its vengeance in theaters everywhere on May 15.