I am not sure under normal circumstances that I would have gone for something like Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. I am not a religious person, so would a satirical look at a megachurch work on me? I mean, I suspect I would, but it’s not something I would make as my first choice. What few movies of this stripe I’ve seen don’t often work for me.
But this one, included with Peacock, has Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown as the leads, so that counts for a lot.
Trinitie Childs (Hall) is the proud First Lady of a Southern Baptist megachurch where her husband Lee-Curtis (Brown) is the pastor. The church has been closed for a while, most of its congregants going to the church of their biggest competitors, the Sumpters (Conphidance and Nicole Beharie). Apparently, Lee-Curtis was involved in some kind of a sexual scandal that is only gradually revealed. The Childses paid off a settlement and are now looking to reopen their church for worship, something both of them are really hoping will revive their fortunes. And as this is a found-footage movie, there’s a camera crew following them around as they work on their big reopening.
That said, the reasons for their desire to reopen may be a little complicated. While both talk about actually wanting to help save souls and the like, Trinitie really likes being in the spotlight, and the two of them do enjoy a rather lush lifestyle. There does seem to be a bit of Prosperity Gospel mixed into what these two do. However, I do think it would be wrong to assume that they are only in it for the money, only that the money is a very large part of it. The other part is whether or not Trinitie will stay with her husband given their history and some of his actions. Is this marriage or this congregation salvagable?
Now, a movie like this could very easily go the route of broad comedy. For the most part, it doesn’t. It’s more of a barbed satire, the kind that knows where to poke to point out the hypocrisy and arguably is more about how these two see the Sunday service as a chance to put on a show for their worshippers, even if they are down to about five or six very loyal congregants. The Childses truly believe they can get their numbers back up with a big opening, but things keep happening. Again, it’s not really a broad comedy. It’s more like small things that add up over time with the occasional crazy line, but it’s the sort of comedy that runs off small chuckles rather than belly laughs. Or at least it did for me because, well, not a chuchgoer.
It works as well as it does largely because Hall and Brown are both so good in their respective roles. It wasn’t really a surprise or anything that these two would turn in good performances, but it’s true. When the movie ends, the fate of the church is strongly hinted at, the final reveal is just a look at Hall’s face as she figures out a thing or two.about where her life is. It’s things like that which make or break a movie like this, and given the strength of the cast, I’d say it worked rather well.
Grade: B
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