"Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul." - Film Review
There is so much to love in Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.. A disgraced mega-pastor televangelist, Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown), and his wife, Trinitie (Regina Hall), are the focus of this mockumentary. It’s clear from Lee-Curtis’ self-comparison to Rocky (who famously went all fifteen rounds with Apollo Creed before losing), that this film will be a dark satire of a self-righteous, narcissistic couple deeply embedded in the religious zealism of America.
Shakura (Nicole Beharie) and Keon (Conphidance) Sumpter run a church down the road from the besmirched Childs-run Wander to Greater Paths. The Sumpters’ church, Heaven’s House, saw an influx of congregates when the Childs’ church closed down amid sexual assault allegations against Lee-Curtis. The mockumentary is meant to track the journey for Wander to Greater Paths’ Easter Sunday reopening.
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Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is yet another feather in the cap of Beharie. She was most recently seen in the gritty crime movie Breaking. Her two performances (both of which were at Sundance this year) could not be more different. In Breaking, she is the cool, calm, and collected employee of a Wells Fargo that is robbed. Her character in Honk for Jesus. Save You Soul. could not be more antithetical. Now, Beharie is a faux-kind scheming pastor who’s out to steal the crown from the Childses.
Brown’s performance somewhat shatters the illusion of the film. There’s a disconnect because Brown’s portrayal of Lee-Childs feels like he’s in on the joke of this satire. The film is populated with flashbacks to previously recorded sermons when Wander to Greater Paths was at its largest. He speaks about his many blessings, the power of the Lord, and how “the homosexual agenda” is ruining the sanctity of the entire concept of marriage. The trouble is that Brown is playing a farcical version of a televangelist pastor instead of one with truth behind it. The best mockumentaries (like Best in Show) do feature eccentric characters. However, these films have the distinction of not only fully committing to the oddity their characters require, but to being so fully immersed that they don’t realize the joke is on them.
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Hall, on the other hand, is mockumentary perfection. About halfway through the film, Trinitie runs into a former congregation member at the mall and their conversation is the sort of passive aggression that can only be capped off with a “bless your heart.” Trinitie is clearly so wrapped up in this conversation that she forgets she is being recorded. When she remembers, Trinitie immediately slaps on a pageant grin and flips her hair at the camera. It’s an exceptionally well-timed joke that proves Hall was born to play in this genre.
The film also loses its mockumentary style a few times throughout the runtime. It becomes difficult to understand when the filmmaking crew is present and when it’s not. Part of what makes mockumentaries interesting is their claustrophobic-type caging of their subjects. The audience doesn’t get to see the characters outside the confines of the filming process. It gives everyone a breather that makes the film’s pace sputter. Sure, it’s somewhat unrealistic for a documentary crew to be filming 24/7, but the fact that this is a mockumentary affords Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. some creative liberties.
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Despite the wiggle room they’ve created for themselves, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. skirts the allegations that led to the shutdown of Wander to Greater Paths. It’s understandable to an extent, given how these allegations don’t align with the image Lee-Curtis and Trinitie are trying to cultivate. If the audience had been given glimpses of their lives when the camera wasn’t rolling, there could have been a deeper look at these characters. It’s just not the case.
It’s thanks to Hall that Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. stays afloat as long as it does. And it’s because of her intensity that the rest of the film’s shortcomings stand out so much. There is magic in Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul., but it’s not ready for a rebirth quite yet.
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