Director: Adamma Ebo
Screenwriter: Adamma Ebo
Starring: Regina Hall, Sterling K. Brown
Runtime: 102 min
Synopsis: As the proud first lady of a Southern Baptist megachurch, Trinitie Childs 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, 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 that commodified religion has ever seen. *Originally part of MTR's Sundance 2022 Coverage
Snapshot Review:
Written and directed by Adamma Ebo, Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul, pulls viewers through the side door of the church for a behind-the-scenes look at a ministry in crisis and a marriage at a crossroads. Inspired by the real-life fall from grace of megachurch pastor
Eddie Long amid accusations of sexual misconduct, Honk for Jesus goes deep in its bag for a biting commentary on the parasitic relationship between megachurches and the Black community, deification of religious leaders, denial, rejection of the self, and trying to hold on to success at any costs.
Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (
Sterling K. Brown) and First Lady, Trinitie (Regina Hall) are in dire need of some good press. They’ve lost their standing in the community. Amid public scandal, their congregation fled. Now former parishioners, Keon and Shakura Sumptor (played with by Conphidance and
Nicole Beharie) reign supreme and they have no intentions of stepping aside. In the hopes of revitalizing their image as they plan a grand re-opening, the Lee-Curtis hires a documentarian. But what’s intended to be a record of their celebratory return, swiftly takes a turn. Because that scandal upended the delicate balance of this couple’s complicated marriage arrangement too. Unlike the majority of feature films taking aim at religious institutions, Ebo’s dark satire presents (partially) as a mockumentary. It’s a choice that allows the implied (scandal) narrative to work in tandem with an intimate fly-on-the-wall portrait of a partnership under stress.
Offering this narrative up as “story within a story,” is a savvy way to lean into the messiness that is church communities, while keeping the story accessible to a wider audience. Read that back one more time, Honk For Jesus. Save Your Souls is a movie with a specific audience in mind, but everyone is welcome to partake. Just know Ebo’s storyline relies on the kind of sly references, call and response mentality, and church-folk banter that are the hallmark of many a Southern Baptist household all specifically designed to work on multiple levels. If you let it, in between laughing at moments of sheer outrageousness, Honk For Jesus will greatly inform your understanding of Black culture, community, and its complicated relationship with religious hypocrisy and the gospel of prosperity.
A subtly building tension between Lee-Curtis and Trinitie sets the stage for a nuanced take on partnership, love, marital sacrifice and betrayal. Hall and Brown have a kind of chemistry a relationship under pressure needs to sell such over the top characters like Lee-Curtis and Trinitie. Individually and collectively the pair set the tone and masterfully control the ebb and flow of the storyline that deliberately speaks around complicated issues. Juxtapose with the more composed - but no less engrossing - dynamic of rival pastors played...