As much as I would have liked to have watched more movies this weekend, concerts and Cobra Kai‘s fifth season just wouldn’t allow it. Thus, I made sure Saturday night was all about the movies. Barbarian and Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul. made the cut.
As someone who doesn’t regularly seek out horror films, I feel like I made the smart choice in watching that one first. It was both earlier in the day, more people were in attendance, and then I could watch a satirical comedy afterwards so I wouldn’t be scared to walk to my room in the dark when I got home. Anyways, two things really persuaded me to watch this film. The first is that Bill Skarsgard was going to be in it, and the second was that Zach Cregger wrote and directed it. As someone who’s loved The Whitest Kids U Know for a long time, I was really intrigued by him creating this horror film. And yes, since he’s worked a lot in comedy, there were sure to be a few funny moments in the film, don’t worry. What really sold me on buying a ticket to the film though were all of the reviews for this! Every one I’d seen highly lauded it, and recommended going in knowing as little as possible. So that’s what I did.
The reviews are correct, you should go in knowing as little as possible. If you’ve seen the trailer, that really only tells like ten percent of the story, and maybe only the first twenty minutes or so of the film. From there, it went in directions you couldn’t really even imagine. The film also introduced new storylines that you thought had absolutely no relation to each other, but the creativity of tying them back together was really something! There’s not much I can tell you, but what I can is basically all the trailer gave away. Tess arrives very late at night to her Airbnb property in a sketchy Detroit neighborhood only to find out that it’s been double-booked. Instead of leaving, like I definitely would have done, she decides to go inside. It’s easy to make assumptions from here, and I know I sure did, but this film definitely kept me on my toes. Also, all the frustrating things people typically do in horror films are addressed smartly here, but that still doesn’t make them any less frustrating.
On the flip side of Saturday’s double feature, I went and saw the satirical comedy film, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. In it, we meet Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs and his wife, First Lady Trinitie. Together, they ran a huge Southern Baptist megachurch, raking in a ton of cash. All that notoriety came crashing down a year prior when Lee-Curtis was found to be seducing vulnerable young men. Now, they’ve hired a documentary film crew to help bolster their image and hopefully bring an influx of congregants to their church’s grand re-opening on Easter Sunday. What we see instead is this couple who doesn’t really seem to be in it for Jesus, and it really in it for the money, the power, and the fame. You can rightly assume that nothing in their plan for a comeback goes well. Almost everything they do is cringe-worthy, and as much as I wanted to feel for Trinitie, it’s hard to when it’s clear she’s only staying in the relationship for the material things it’s brought her in the past. I suppose satire just isn’t really my thing, nor is the mockumentary style. It didn’t land, but that doesn’t mean it won’t for you.
Overall, some interesting choices for the weekend! Barbarian came out on top, and if you’re not too apprehensive about horror films, you should definitely give it a go. Three Thousand Years of Longing is on the short list (hello, Frank Miller!), so look out for that soon!