'Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.' Review: Brown and Hall Blesses Surface Leveled Christian Satire
Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
R: Language and some sexual content
Runtime: 1 Hr and 42 Minutes
Production Companies: Monkeypaw Productions, Pinky Promise, 59% Productions, Ejime Productions, Rh Negative, Indian Meadows Productions
Distributor: Focus Features
Director: Adamma Ebo
Writer: Adamma Ebo
Cast: Regina Hall, Sterling K. Brown, Austin Crute, Nicole Beharie
Release Date: September 2, 2022
Theaters & Peacock
Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall) is the proud first lady of a Southern Baptist megachurch. She once served a congregation in the tens of thousands alongside her husband, Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown). But after a scandal forces their church to temporarily close, Trinitie and Lee-Curtis must rebuild their congregation to make the biggest comeback that commodified religion has ever seen.
As someone who feels disdain towards religion due to good ol’ trauma, nothing is more cathartic than watching religious satires. American society glorifies, yet rarely calls out, Christian megachurches in media. When filmmakers get behind the camera and poke fun at them, I’m at the ready with popcorn in tow. When I heard that Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul was a Black film that took shots at shallow Black pastors (starring Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown, to boot), it easily became one of my most anticipated features of the month.
Writer/director Adamma Ebo accurately illustrates the shallow behavior of influential pastors via the husband-wife pastor duo Trinitie and Lee-Curtis Childs. Instantly establishing that their lifestyle is materialistic and that they’re financially stable, she exhibits how their charismatic “prophets of Christ” act is merely a facade for self-gain. Their cheery spirit is both hilarious and unsettling. The film catapults viewers into the epicenter of a major scandal where Lee-Childs is a culprit. With their marriage on the rocks, their comeback attempt will either provide a second coming or get them crucified.
Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul’s satirical edge is far from a repetitive one-note joke as Ebo’s script explores the inner workings of this once reputable couple. The humor constantly pokes fun at the pastors’ demeanors and their interactions with a once loyal community, but it’s best when it's interpersonal. The weight of their marriage is felt as Ebo displays how they can’t stand each other. They give each other the cold shoulder, easily manipulate each other for the sake of ego, and make biting remarks.
Ebo ambitiously combines traditional and mockumentary formats to add depth to the on-and-off lives the Childs’ lead. There are a few inconsistencies with how it cherrypicks which moments should be from the diegetic documentary crew’s lens and which are from the traditional lens. As the film progressed, the decision to signify what format worked best for its story became fluent, primarily as the tone darkened.
Leads Sterling K.Brown and Regina Hall deliver hysterical performances as the Childs. Their endless charisma and high-spirited line deliveries are a riot to witness. It’s always welcoming to see Brown get goofy given his vast dramatic repertoire. However, as Lee-Childs’s insecurities are put to the test, he puts the brakes on all the shits and giggles and delivers a sense of unease.
Regina Hall doesn’t get her flowers enough, for she is remarkable as hell (sorry, Lord) as Trinitie. Trinitie is the emotional centerpiece put through a biblical test as the supportive first respondent and keeper to Lee-Childs’s actions. Hall exhibits a slow descent into frustration with complexity. She’s one of the best comedic actresses of our time, skillfully interweaving a subtle dramatic edge that’s staggering. I need to see her star in more roles like this one and Mariama Diallo’s Master where she gets to showcase her limitless range as a dramatic performer.
Ebo’s satire is an exploration of the power and hypocrisy of organized religious institutions and a character-driven deconstruction of a marriage on the rocks. Sadly, its ambitions exceed her grasp. The tone is uneven as the humor is unabashedly goofy until it takes on an entirely new persona when it navigates Lee-Childs’s sinful actions. The relevance of his scandal is far too provocative to match the comedic reach the story tries to tell. With Trinitie as the focal point of reference slowly losing her sanity, the story’s not as coherent as it should be.
The dissonance between the establishing tone and its dark edge in the first half becomes completely loose in the latter half. The tone doesn't mesh no matter how hard it tries. At a certain point, you feel as if you’re watching scenes from two different movies.
Despite Hall and Brown’s accurate pastor personas, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul’s religious humor is broad and doesn't hold much water. Some of the comedic bits are padded out and not as funny as they should be. By the time it gets to the titular Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul scene, the energy is whittled. The humor’s strongest suit is when the Childs have a one-sided pissing contest with the new pastors on the block, Keon and Shakura Sumpter (Conphidance and Nicole Beharie), who plan to open on the same date as the Childs, likely to get all of their former congregates. The Sumpters aren’t given much screen time, which is a shame because Nicole Beharie is a hilarious performer who can go toe to toe with Hall.
Adamma Ebo's directorial debut bears familiarity with its comedic approach and may get derivative at times. Yet, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul’s ambitious nature is held together by its dramatic writing, format, and captivating leads. This is high on the list as one of Regina Hall’s most incredible roles to date. Give her more challenging roles, Hollywood. Hall can do it all.
