Black Megachurches and Greed On Blast in Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul

 

Creflo Dollar. Eddie Long. Henry Lyons. Gaton Smith. Thomas Wesley Weeks III.  You know these names.  These were men trusted, admired and respected by millions of parishioners who at some point fell from grace and struggled for decades to return to the glory days of their religious reign.

As the proud first lady of a Southern Baptist megachurch, Trinitie Childs(Regina Hall) carries immense responsibility on her shoulders. Her church, Wander To Greater Paths, once served a congregation in the tens of thousands, but after a scandal involving her husband, Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown), forced the church to close temporarily, Trinitie is struggling to manage the aftermath. Now Trinitie and Lee-Curtis must rebuild their congregation and reconcile their faith by all means necessary to make the biggest comeback ever seen.

Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul is brought to the masses from the feature filmmaking debut twin duo writer-director Adamma Ebo and producer Adanne Ebo in this adaptation of their previous short film of the same name.

Partially shot in faux-documentary style, this lively satire on for-profit religion explores both the on-camera desperation in image rebranding and the hard truths that fester behind the scenes.

The humor is biting in both writing and performance.  Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown as the First Lady and Pastor of Wander To Greater Paths church took me right back to every Sunday as a child.  You know those services where multiple women pass out from getting “the holy spirit,” the choir is golden and those basement church dinners for $5-10 a plate.  Growing up COGIC (Church of God in Christ), I was immediately transported right back to Christ Community Temple and all the shenanigans that came with it.

Brown, mostly known for his Emmy winning role as Randall in NBC’s ‘This is Us’ releases a side of his comedic talents we had yet to discover and what a joyous revelation it is to witness.  Hall, known, mostly for her comedic prowess in films like “Girls Trip” is also stretching her wings and walking the dramedy tightrope.  Both excel beautifully and are the main reasons you will want to partake in Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul.

In addition to its mockumentary style, the Ebo twins succeed in shadily addressing a huge issue in the church regarding homosexuality and views on the LGBTQ community with giving the couple a closet full of rainbow colored Prada clothing and the hypocrisy that comes along with those who lead their flock.  Black people revere the church and those who lead, but at what point do we take the blinders off and see them as fallible human beings like everyone else.

Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul will make you laugh, but it will also make you think twice the next that collection plate passes down the aisle.