After a pastor’s scandal leads to the mass exodus of his congregation, his wife goes to desperate lengths to salvage his reputation and regain their following. Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul is now streaming on Peacock.
Honk For Jesus is a proof-of-concept short film-turned-feature written and directed by Adammo Ebo. This dark comedy expertly captures the absurdities and hypocrisy of organized religion by turning the focus on a subculture within Christianity, the black southern Baptist megachurch, through the experience of a pastor’s wife. Pastor Lee Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown) and Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall) are at the center of this film, holding up a united front to clear Pastor Child’s name in a lawsuit, but that becomes more difficult as a rival church threatens to open their new doors on the same day the Child’s plan their grand reopening. As Childs’ return to the pulpit quickly approaches, the husband and wife decide to let a documentary crew film the preparations for the reopening- at the same time, Trinitie questions their marriage. Although this dark comedy is restricted by the mockumentary format, it is one of the most interesting and original films released this year.
Religion is always a tough subject matter to tackle in film, but this film had an even larger task once the pastor’s scandal is revealed. At the beginning of the film, the viewers’ knowledge of the pastor’s scandal is limited, but through the mockumentary, we learn all we need to know about Lee Curtis Childs and Trinitie Childs. Lee is impulsive, narcissistic, and manipulative, while his Trinitie is measured, patient, and loyal to a fault. Unfortunately for Trinitie, her loyalty and determination to help Lee bring the church back are constantly thwarted by Lee’s own failings. He fails to take any accountability for his wrongs and Trinitie is often the only thing standing between Lee and his own demise. Ebo does an excellent job at engaging us with their dynamic from beginning to end. Lee makes the messes and Trinitie cleans up the messes with little to nothing in return. If marriage wasn’t hard enough, their livelihood is all based upon Lee’s success as a pastor. If he fails to successfully return to what he does best, their future is uncertain. The expensive lifestyle filled with mansions, luxury cars, and clothes is suddenly up in the air, as well as their reputation within their community. Lee’s high stakes are also Trinitie’s which makes the journey of this couple all the more interesting and at times very hard to watch. At the same time, it is hilarious.
Once the scandal is revealed, the film stops being funny. Instead, a sense of dread takes over that makes your own laughter very uncomfortable. Lee is revealed to be a sexual predator who engages in appropriate relationships with young men whom he’s mentored through the church. Up until that information is presented, the laughter comes easy, but once the comfortable laughter ends, this is where the film is a lot more impactful. We get scenes of Lee in action trying to seduce and manipulate young men with his influence all the while, his wife is running interference so Lee doesn’t find himself in more trouble. It’s creepy to watch and puts a weight on the material that is very necessary given the subject matter being tackled.
Regina Hall shines in this film – not only in the comedic moments, but in the heaviest scenes of the films where Trinitie faces the ultimate moral dilemma. We understand her motivation for sticking beside Lee, but it is clearly not justified at all. Trinitie could easily be a character audiences hate because she is an enabler for her husband’s assaults, but Hall manages to make Trinitie weirdly sympathetic. Sterling K. Brown is impressive as well, but he is easily able to navigate the more dramatic beats. Without Hall sharing scenes to balance out the comedic moments, Lee Childs would be a lot less funny and more cringe-worthy. Besides the leads, the supporting cast – particularly the youthful pastor and first lady, Keon and Shakura Sumpter (played by Conphidance and Nicole Beharie), act as excellent antagonists to our controversial leads.
Even though the film is wildly entertaining, it gets disjointed as we jump between their documentary footage and the scenes that aren’t being filmed for the documentary. This is mainly due to the camerawork. There is no consistent style differentiation between the faux documentary footage, so when the film moves to scenes like the hilarious car scene, the basketball gym scene, or the bedroom scenes, we cannot tell which view we are watching from.
Another critique is the abrupt and predictable ending. The set-up and build-up to the climax is brilliant. It is nearly the day of the church’s reopening, so Pastor Lee and Trinitie resort to holding signs on the street to get the attention of passersby. More desperate than before, Lee directs Trinitie to do more degrading acts on the side of the road for attention. This backfires heavily when one of Pastor Lee’s victims confronts him. At the moment, Trinitie is forced to face what Lee has done. He has subjected her to his disgrace, but more alarming, she allowed it. Regina gives an amazing monologue showing Trinitie at her breaking point, but that’s it…she ends up at the church next to Lee the next day where their five loyal congregants are the only people to attend.
Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul. is a brave film that dares audiences to take a nuanced look at how charismatic figures can be enabled. It is a brilliant satire with a lot to say, but the ending and the mockumentary style leave much more to be desired.
You can stream Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul. under the premium plan on Peacock.