There’s dancing, posing, styling and profiling, as well as the search for redemption in this Jordan Peele and Daniel Kaluuya produced film, “Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul.”
And there’s Sterling K. Brown’s naked chest. Cannot forget that, considering the NBC series “This is Us” is no longer and our weekly dose of his character Randall Pearson is left to memory.
That said, this film, written and directed by Adamma Ebo, centers on the aftermath of a scandal that shutters a Southern Baptist megachurch that had been run by Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall) and her husband Lee-Curtis Childs (Brown). In a rebound attempt to bring the congregation back into the fold, the two do everything they think they should to repent in the eyes of the community, including bringing in a documentary film crew to capture their “comeback.”
While many in the film wonder why Trinitie stays with Lee-Curtis after the scandal, others champion her commitment and staying power. During the dramedy, viewers get a glimpse at the inner workings of the couple’s daily life — from lavish spending and love of the limelight to being confronted by community members and former congregants who feel betrayed. While we watch the pastor and first lady struggle, former congregants the Sumpters are looking to lure those who left the Childs’ church for their own church. The satirical comedy has scenes that are heartfelt, awkward, funny and painful to watch, but the faux documentary that shows their life is an interesting one. We spoke with Hall and Brown about the frustration and truths found in the movie. The interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Q: Who should we root for — Trinitie or Lee-Curtis?
Hall: I think what Adamma did that was so great is that there’s good parts of Lee-Curtis and it’s complex. You do believe that they (the Childs) started with a genuine mission and somewhere along the way that changed. So, you root for Trinitie, but then there are moments where Trinitie doesn’t make a choice ... she’s not a complete victim. There’s humanity in this film.
Brown: I would say that I root for Trinitie but I don’t root against Lee-Curtis. The modernity of me sees the whole pastor/first lady paradigm as potentially antiquated and so the Sumpters, the co-pastors of the new wave of equality, means that I can do the same thing that you do just as well and be received as such.
Hall: I don’t think Trinitie feels she possesses that thing that she sees in Lee-Curtis, the reason why she stays.
Brown: For sure.
Hall: I think she loves him on that stage. I think she loves being seen.
Q: Who is the audience for the film?
Brown: I think once we produce it, however you receive it is right. There’s no feeling dumb with this one. It’s not “Inception.”
Hall: I think this movie is going to be different for different people. I think some people are gonna go, ‘she should have left,’ some people are going to be mad at the commentary that they feel it might make on homosexuality … there’ll be a lot. It is a real story about two human beings and there’s something about the prosperity in the church.
Q: When you two read the script, what was it that made you sign up?
Brown: For me, it was Regina Hall. She is awesome as a performer, as a human being, to be able to look in her eyes, watch what she does. There’s some people you can’t help but be present with because of their sheer radiance.
Hall: I love him. I responded to the script because I kept thinking about it. I read it and was like: ‘This is gonna be really good or really bad.’ Because Lee-Curtis had to be so precise. It doesn’t work without him — that script without the perfect Lee-Curtis. So, when we got Sterling, I was talking to my brother who is very into the church. And when he found out that we had you (Brown), he was like” ‘y’all are golden now. This could be something special because Sterling is going to come and sprinkle some K. Brown magic dust.’ Because it’s so much about their relationship, I think that is really what made it come to life. That’s what made it so sweet. The humanity he brought out in the script, the emotion that you see and the commitment. The thing is you do believe he loves God and wants to save souls. He added a little more to it. But that is the truth and you can understand how someone can be enamored and compelled by that mission and by Lee-Curtis because he believes it.
Brown: Lee-Curtis has a line where he says something like: ‘You can’t control how the devil torments you.’ And he accepts his sinful nature. At the end of the film, he’s saying ‘maybe I’m not the person who can help you.’ It’s interesting.
Q: Regina, you have three films out this year — were they stockpiling or were you just busy?
Hall: We did ‘Honk’ and it went through the festival circuit and this is the release and then I did ‘Me Time’ with Kevin (Hart); sometimes the way stuff drops it looks like that. They just happen to come out days apart. Which was sort of a surprise to us but yeah, this one’s our baby.
Q: Sterling, you take your shirt off more than once in the film, is there always a clause in everything you do to show your torso?
Brown: There is no clause. It’s just getting harder and harder at 46 … to keep it up, I do the best that I can.
Hall: I was very happy with that torso. You’ll just have to be naked until it goes. Give us that.
Brown: Alright.
Q: We all loved Randall Pearson from “This is Us.” Do you miss him as much as we do?
Brown: I miss him as much as everybody else does. He’s a beautiful man, honestly. And he’s not me. I will say that because if I’m watching too much basketball, my wife will be like ‘I need you to stop what you’re doing and do what Randall would do.’ Then I’m like, I gotta turn off this game. Make this food.
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