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    Movie Review

    Saints become sinners in mediocre Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.

    Alex Bentley
    Aug 31, 2022 | 10:50 am
    Conphidance and Nicole Beharie in Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.play icon
    Conphidance and Nicole Beharie in Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
    Photo by Steve Swisher courtesy of Pinky Promise LLC

    Those who consider themselves religious wouldn’t be entirely wrong if they complained that it’s difficult to find positive portrayals of religion in mainstream movies. High-profile films like The Da Vinci Code, Doubt, Spotlight, and the recent The Eyes of Tammy Faye have each featured stories where those professing to spread the word of God were the ones who were the biggest sinners.

    The latest film in that vein is Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul., which centers on Paster Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown) and his wife Trinitie (Regina Hall), who are the leaders at Wander to Greater Paths Baptist Church. Make that, were the leaders, as they’ve lost their entire mega-church congregation of 25,000 people after Lee-Curtis is implicated in a scandal that’s gradually revealed over the course of the film.

    Lee-Curtis and Trinitie have hired a documentary crew to try to rehabilitate their image and hopefully witness their rise back to power. What they capture instead is the rampant greed and narcissism of Lee-Child, who never met an expensive item he didn’t covet, and the crisis of faith of Trinitie, who finds it increasingly difficult to stand by her husband given his sins and his unbending expectations of her.

    Written and directed by Adamma Ebo, the film is a satire of both mega-church leaders who flaunt their wealth and of a specific sect of Christianity. The film is labeled as a comedy, and while there are occasional funny flourishes, the story is actually very serious for much of its running time. The transgression of which Lee-Child is accused and the obviously strained relationship between him and Trinitie makes for some somber viewing, no matter how goofy or over-the-top the two of them act.

    Unfortunately, the mockumentary aspect of the film never gels. The crew making the film is set up as a “fly on the wall” group, meaning we never hear them or see them. This makes for some supremely awkward scenes as Lee-Curtis and Trinitie fumble around, mugging for the camera without any direction. While this might solidify their character traits, it doesn’t make for interesting viewing. It also leads to confusion as Ebo moves back-and-forth between documentary scenes and “real” scenes, with the line between the two becoming very blurry.

    Ebo attempts to bring some additional levity to the film with the characters of Keon and Shakura Sumpter (Conphidance and Nicole Beharie), two pastors who lead a growing church that has siphoned off many of the Childs’ former congregants. The juxtaposition between the two couples is clear, and making the film more about the two churches’ rivalry might have made for a more successful story than the one Ebo chose.

    Whatever the film’s story faults may be, you can’t lay that at the feet of Brown or Hall, as each is highly committed to their role. Hall is a more natural comedic performer and so those parts of the film fit her better, but Brown is completely believable as the pompous and oftentimes clueless Lee-Child. Conphidance and Beharie are not as well-known, but they each deserve bigger roles after scoring with their performances here.

    Notable as the first non-horror release from Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. never seems to make much of a point. The main characters barely evolve over the course of the film, leaving the audience waiting for a resolution that never happens.

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    Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. opens in theaters and debuts on Peacock on September 2. To find out how to get $3 movie tickets on National Cinema Day, September 3, go here.

    Regina Hall in Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.

    Regina Hall in Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
      
    Photo by Steve Swisher/courtesy of Pinky Promise LLC
    Regina Hall in Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
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    Movie Review

    Stephen King film adaptation The Life of Chuck aims for the heart

    Alex Bentley
    Jun 13, 2025 | 1:20 pm
    Tom Hiddleston in The Life of Chuck
    Photo courtesy of NEON
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    Just like actors, once a filmmaker becomes known for a certain genre, it can be difficult to escape that pigeonholing. Writer/director Mike Flanagan has worked for 20 years in both film and television, and literally every project he’s done has been related to horror. He’s finally breaking out with The Life of Chuck, which is ironically based on a short story of the same name by Stephen King.

    Told in three chapters in reverse order, the film is almost impossible to describe without giving away its magic. The first section centers on Marty (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a teacher grappling, like everyone around him, with what seems to be the world falling apart. He’s comforted to a degree by reuniting with his ex-wife, Felicia (Karen Gillan), but is also baffled by multiple ads touting the retirement of Charles “Chuck” Krantz (Tom Hiddleston) after “39 great years.”

    The second section consists of little more than a slightly younger Chuck happening upon Taylor (The Pocket Queen), a drummer busking on a street corner, giving Chuck and a younger woman, Janice (Annalise Basso), the inspiration to start dancing. The final section goes back to the childhood of Chuck (Benjamin Pajak), where he’s raised by his grandparents (Mark Hamill and Mia Sara), discovers dance as an outlet, and wonders about various small mysteries.

    Flanagan finds a way to deliver a lot of story with relatively little effort. Using a wry narrator (Nick Offerman), a limited number of locations, and a series of great small performances, he creates an intriguing premise with few straightforward answers. The structure of the film is designed to confuse the viewer until just the right moment, and the revelation forces you to reexamine everything that came before.

    The biggest accomplishment by Flanagan is making what are essentially three short films and having each of them resonate equally. The film contains elements of science fiction, although the first section may hit a bit too close to home for some of those watching. All three sections, though, have a heartwarming bent to them that sells their central idea without becoming overly saccharine.

    To do so, each of the characters have to connect in a short amount of time. The casting of the film is crucial, and not only does that department succeed with the main roles, but a series of small roles are filled expertly as well. Carl Lumbly as a funeral home owner, David Dastmalchian and Harvey Guillen as parents of students, Matthew Lillard as Marty’s neighbor, Q’orianka Kilcher as Chuck’s wife, and Jacob Tremblay as a teenage Chuck are just a few of the recognizable actors that do yeoman’s work in their brief time on screen.

    Hiddleston is only prominently featured in the second chapter, but his performance there and in small glimpses throughout makes a big impression. Ejiofor is given the star turn in the first chapter and he absolutely kills, both in moments by himself and in scenes with Gillan, with whom he has great chemistry. Hamill, making a rare non-voiceover appearance outside of the Star Wars universe, and Sara, in her first notable role in 11 years, are also very memorable in the final chapter.

    The Life of Chuck is a film that’s filled with emotion, but the full impact of the story is not felt until the final moments. It has a mysterious journey that is initially frustrating, but the performances keep the film going until it gets to its satisfying payoff.

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    The Life of Chuck is now playing in theaters.

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