Focus Features
The trailer for Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is one of the worst I’ve ever seen.
I mean no disrespect toward the marketing folks behind it. This is an incredibly difficult movie to promote and they were probably told by somebody who told somebody who told somebody that they needed to make the film out to be an Office-esque mockumentary, full of silly laughs.
It is not that movie at all.
Not even a little bit.
Don’t let the trailer fool you – yes, the movie is funny. But it does that by really putting the dark in dark comedy.
Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. follows megachurch leaders Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown) and first-lady Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall) in the wake of their fall from grace post-scandal. When the scandal broke, the congregation fled and this former-power couple is now aiming to make a comeback, reopen the doors of Wander to Greater Paths, and revive the revival.
Don’t let the trailer fool you, this is not some ‘saying the quiet part loud’ kinda scandal, maybe something that will blow over. No, this one is a doozy. All you need to know is that it’s based on the 2010 scandal of Atlanta pastor Eddie Long, where he gave money and gifts to underage male parishioners to coerce them into sexual acts. In the film, Pastor Childs’ wrongdoings are kept vague, although you’ll get enough hints to get the gist.
There’s absolutely nothing funny about that. The film finds its humor in the world around the scandal. It finds humor in the hypocrisy of religion. It finds humor in the rise of the American megachurch. It finds humor in the choices we make that change our lives — and how we respond to those choices and changes. These are serious subjects and themes, but the script by writer-director Adamma Ebo (the film is produced by her sister, Adanne — they are billed as The Ebo Twins) approaches those themes with deftness of poignancy, while managing to be harshly funny.
Don’t let the trailer fool you, that humor doesn’t come from silly one-liners (although it does sneak in a good ‘Bless your heart’) or wacky situations — it finds it in the deepest and darkest emotions. The ones that aren’t funny when they’re happening to you.
Don’t let the trailer fool you, Sterling K. Brown gets to do some of that with his supremely cocky pastor — he really gets his laughs from just doing the most — but the real star of the movie is Regina Hall, the woman left to pick up the pieces after her husband’s mistakes. We all know Hall from silly comedies like the Scary Movie franchise or maybe Netflix’s recent Me Time, where she gives equally silly performances. However, between Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. and the thriller Master, Hall is showing 2022 audiences she can do more than just joke. In this film, she’s still funny, but she does it by proving the old adage that tragedy plus time equals comedy — the horrible situation her husband put her in plus the time since their downfall equals the dark comedy and premise of the film. And Hall pulls it off perfectly. Although the story is about the mistakes her husband made and his attempts to crawl back into importance and relevance, it’s really Trinitie’s story and Hall balances all of the emotions equally.
There’s the optimism of re-opening the church and getting back to their old life. But then there’s the embarrassment she feels knowing that it will never be the same and that there are only a few people who care about them. You can count them on one hand, the ‘Devout Five’.
There’s her ability to do anything in an attempt to get it all back. And then there’s the pain of actually having to do it, standing on the side of the road with a sign: ‘Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul’.
There’s her commitment to her husband, no matter what. A lifetime of love and a partnership with each other and in their faith that will guide them through the toughest battles.
And then there’s what her husband did. And how she will never be able to shake that.
Ebo sets up the film in a pseudo-documentary style, chronicling their return in a fly-on-the-wall approach. That behind-the-scenes insight shows us the ups and downs of those emotions. Any time Pastor Lee-Curtis does something embarrassing and wants that footage cut from the film, it stays in. It’s all about grappling with your emotions. With your feelings. And with your decisions.
Yeah, it’s a comedy. But sometimes there’s nothing funny about real life.
Don’t let the trailer fool you.
Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. has a run time of 1 hour 42 minutes, and is rated R for language and some sexual content.
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