Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
Release poster
Directed by	Adamma Ebo
Screenplay by	Adamma Ebo
Based on	Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. by Adamma Ebo
Produced by	Rowan Riley Daniel Kaluuya Amandla Crichlow Matthew Cooper Jessamine Burgum Adamma Ebo Adanne Ebo Regina Hall Sterling K. Brown Kara Durrett
Starring	Regina Hall Sterling K. Brown Austin Crute Nicole Beharie
Cinematography	Alan Gwizdowski
Edited by	Ali Greer Stacy Moon
Music by	Marcus Norris
Production companies	Monkeypaw Productions Pinky Promise 59% Productions Ejime Productions Rh Negative Indian Meadows Productions
Distributed by	Focus Features
Release dates	January 23, 2022 (2022-01-23) (Sundance) September 2, 2022 (2022-09-02) (United States)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1.8 million

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. is a 2022 American comedy film written, directed, and produced by Adamma Ebo, in her feature directorial debut. It is a feature-length adaptation of Ebo's 2018 short film of the same name. It stars Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown, who are also producers on the film alongside Daniel Kaluuya, who produced under his 59% Productions banner, with Jordan Peele serving as executive producer under his Monkeypaw Productions banner.

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2022, and was released theatrically and streaming on Peacock on September 2, 2022, by Focus Features. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

Plot

Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown) and his wife, First Lady Trinitie (Regina Hall), ran the megachurch with tons of followers and raked in a substantial amount of money. However, a recent scandal involving Lee-Curtis and several young men has forced the Childs to close their church after severe backlash and a mass exodus of congregants. One year later, they hired a documentary crew and hope they would to reopen their church by Easter Sunday.

While Lee-Curtis and Trinitie try to show that they are decent people, the documentary captures them indulging in expenses and showing off things like their wardrobe full of designer brands and a big fountain in the church. Most people have turned on them, but they still have a small gathering of supporters, including five congregants who have stuck around for Lee-Curtis’s sermons.

Another pastoral couple, Keon and Shakura Sumpter (Conphidance and Nicole Beharie), are planning to open their own church, Heaven’s Home, on Easter Sunday as well. They cite the Childs as their inspiration, but have also gathered many of their former congregants to attend their sermons.

The "devout" five Deacon and Deaconess Culpepper (Robert Yatta and Greta Marable Glenn), Kensington Straterly (Perris Drew), and Sapphire and Aria DeVaughn (Crystal Alicia Garrett and Selah Kimbro Jones)believe Lee-Curtis is not guilty of the allegations and are more than happy to abide by his words attending their Wednesday sermon despite a mishap during their baptism. After the service, the Childs drive by Heaven’s Home and worry about how they might run their church out of business.

During her shopping spree, Trinitie spots one of the young men who are involved in the allegations against Lee-Curtis. She also runs into another former congregant, Sister Denetta (Olivia D. Dawson), who makes subtly condescending remarks and lets Trinitie know she will be joining Heaven’s Home along with other former congregants.

Lee-Curtis is later seen playing basketball with a young hopeful athlete but later said to him that he has a boyfriend.

The Childs visit the Sumpters in an attempt to get them to move their opening date away from Easter. While they try to be friendly with one another, the Sumpters are adamant in sticking to that date. Lee-Curtis then plans to reopen Greater Paths within the next few days inorder to beat the Sumpters.

Lee-Curtis has Trinitie wave a sign in the street to advertise their return, telling her to “shake it for the Lord” to get more people to honk and acknowledge them. While standing outside, Trinitie is harassed by a woman who criticizes her and her husband for their actions .

Trinitie has conversation with her mother Sabina (Avis Barnes) about her current problems, but Sabina only encourages her to continue sticking by her husband . Lee-Curtis and Trinitie continue their street advertising, but with less attention than before, he then has Trinitie paint her face so she can do “worship miming". A car stops in the middle of the street and cause a traffic ham. The passenger is a young man named Khalil (Austin Crute), who was one of the young men involved with Lee-Curtis.He burst out in laughter and mocks Lee-Curtis for his attempts to undo his aftermath of the scandal.

Trinitie who can't deal with this storms back to the church and confesses her grievances over her marriage and how their congregants have all turned on them because of the scandal. The documentary director, Anita Bonet (Andrea Laing) finally speaks after being a “fly on the wall” and suggests to Trinitie that she leave, to which Trinitie fires back at her for speaking up.

The final scene takes place during Easter where Lee-Curtis and Trinitie stand outside waiting for people to show up with no luck except the"devout" five and a mustang which drives up to the front only to whirl around in the lot, while the Sumpters at the Heaven’s Home sermons became a success and gain a lot of congregants.

Cast

• Regina Hall as Trinitie Childs
• Sterling K. Brown as Lee-Curtis Childs
• Austin Crute as Khalil
• Nicole Beharie as Shakura Sumpter
• Conphidance as Keon Sumpter
• Devere Rogers as Basil
• Avis Marie Barnes as Sabina
• Olivia D. Dawson as Sister Denetta
• Mike Dyl Anthony as Monterius West
• Natasha L. Fuller as Vera Joseph
• Robert Yatta as Deacon Alastor Culpepper
• Greta Marable Glenn as Deaconess Culpepper
• Crystal Alicia Garrett as Sapphire Devaughn
• Selah Kimbro Jones as Aria Devaughn
• Andrea Laing as Anita
• Jerome Beazer as Verlenzo Hawk

Production

In May 2021, it was announced Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown would star in the film, with Adamma Ebo directing from a screenplay she wrote, and Daniel Kaluuya set to serve as a producer under his 59% Productions banner. In June 2021, Nicole Beharie, Conphidance, Austin Crute and Devere Rogers joined the cast of the film.

Principal photography concluded in July 2021.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2022. In February 2022, Focus Features, Peacock and Monkeypaw Productions acquired distribution rights to the film for $8.5 million. It was released theatrically and on Peacock on September 2, 2022.

Reception

Box office

The film made $1.4 million from 1,882 theaters in its three-day opening weekend, and a total of $1.75 million over the four-day Labor Day frame.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 74% based on 132 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. has some broad targets but refuses to take cheap shots at them, instead offering a pointed, well-acted satire of organized religion." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C–" on an A+ to F scale.

External links

• Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. at IMDb
• Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. at Rotten Tomatoes
• Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. at Metacritic