Entertainment
‘Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul’ finds dark satire in a disgraced megachurch
“Pastor Childs, are the allegations true?” Brown’s Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs is requested close to the outset, whereas leaving the specifics of the scandal purposefully obscure for a lot of the film.
The main points are literally comparatively insignificant, because the relentlessly upbeat pastor and his spouse Trinitie (Corridor) work to rebuild their Atlanta megachurch, which as soon as boasted hundreds of parishioners, planning a triumphant reopening on Easter Sunday.
In what seems like an act of hubris, the Childs have additionally invited a documentary crew to tag alongside, fly-on-the-wall type, as they go in regards to the course of, though there are sufficient uncomfortable moments that they regularly discover themselves talking on to the unseen filmmakers, asking them to go away out sure materials.
Finally, amid references to “the settlement” paid out to these mistaken, they resort to roadside preaching, a sign of how far the mighty have fallen. Additionally they watch their congregants flock to a different church run by a youthful couple (Nicole Beharie, Conphidance), which are not notably good at hiding their curiosity in capitalizing on their opponents’ misfortune — what the previous calls a “landfill of a circumstance.”
Having made its debut on the Sundance Movie Pageant, “Honk for Jesus” clearly has commentary in regards to the transactional nature of sure spiritual outfits baked into the idea, exhibiting off Pastor Childs’ flashy outfits and costly footwear as proof of those that revenue off their flocks. However that broader facet of the film feels underdeveloped, focusing particularly on the central couple’s plight, and notably the extent to which Trinitie will go, to cite the track, in standing by her man.
In that sense, the film gives a stable showcase for Brown and Corridor whereas establishing Ebo as a expertise to observe, if not, on this setting, one who utterly delivers.
“I’m not an ideal man,” Pastor Childs concedes at one level.
Whereas “Honk for Jesus” is not an ideal film, give it reward for no less than being an attention-grabbing one.
“Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul” premieres Sept. 2 in US theaters and on Peacock. It is rated R.