With a title like Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul., should we expect the 2022 film to offer a serious take on the topic of “megachurches”? Not consistently, though we get a mix of satirical comedy and relationship drama.

Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown) and his wife Trinitie (Regina Hall) acted as the heads of “Wander to Greater Paths”, a Southern Baptist “megachurch” with a massive congregation. However, when Lee-Curtis found himself embroiled in a scandal related to gay sex, their world collapsed.

The pair refuse to take this as the end of the line. They work to make a comeback and redeem themselves with their followers.

All of that sounds like a tale that some parties could use as inspirational and a sign of the ways God works to reward his flock. As indicated at the start, though, Honk prefers an edgier view.

Which I suspect the topic deserves. Though fictional, we’ve seen multiple real-world tales of so-called pious figures who preach one thing and do the other.

This means that Lee-Curtis enjoys plenty of actual figures who embarked on his “do as I say, not as I do” view of same-sex relationships. This makes him a character for whom the audience seems unlikely to hope to see succeed, as he obviously displays massive hypocrisy.

Trinitie comes with more room for viewer empathy, and she indeed becomes the more complex character. The film focuses more on Trinitie than it does Lee-Curtis, so expect to see a concentration on her journey.

Although I initially indicated that Honk provided a satirical comedy, that proves true only part of the time. A surprising amount of the film focuses on the interpersonal drama involved.

In an unusual choice, most of Honk flips between two separate aspect ratios. For scenes shot by a “documentary crew” that traces the hoped-for comeback, we get 1.55:1, but scenes intended to be “unfilmed” go with 2.39:1. (Some “archival” 1.33:1 footage also appears sporadically.)

This feels like a clever choice but it can potentially confuse the audience. It takes a while to see the differentiation, and I can’t claim it really adds to the film.

I get it: Honk asserts that “reality TV” is often phony. The 1.55:1 viewpoint allows us to see the “documentary” as contrived whereas the 2.39:1 gives us the actual interactions.

This theme doesn’t really work, though, as it feels tangential to the movie’s purpose. We don’t need a treatise on fake “reality”, as instead, the basic tale seems like enough to carry the movie.

The way Honk leaps from satire to serious also can feel awkward and not especially smooth. Honk plays like a mix of Waiting for Guffman and A Marriage Story, without a clean connection between the two sides.

Because the movie attempts to serve two themes, it lacks a particularly clear through-line. As noted, the comedy and the drama don’t mesh cleanly and the end result feels erratic.

Honk does boast good acting, especially from King. She plays the comedy in a realistic but still funny way, while she also doesn’t overdo a role that easily could become over the top and ridiculous.

Unfortunately, the uncomfortable mix of cinematic styles makes Honk only occasionally engaging. While I admire the ambition of the project, it just doesn’t link together well enough to succeed.

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. appears in a mixed aspect ratio of 1.55:1 and of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie used a documentary framework that went with 1.55:1, but scenes of characters “off-camera” opted for 2.39:1. “Archival” TV footage of the leads went with 1.33:1, but that acted as a minor aspect of the film.

Whatever the ratio, no real issues marred the visuals – well, beyond those 1.33:1 elements. Those featured VHS and looked as ugly as that format implied.

Those remained minor, though, so the vast majority of the flick opted for 1.55:1 or 2.39:1, and sharpness looked very good. Only mild softness materialized, which meant a tight, well-defined image.

I witnessed no shimmering or jaggies, and edge haloes remained absent. As expected, the film lacked any print flaws.

In terms of palette, Honk went with a moderate sense of teal most of the time, though it featured occasional instances of other hues as well. Within the stylistic decisions, the hues seemed fine.

Blacks were deep and tight, and shadows looked smooth and clear. This turned into an appealing image.

As for the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack, it remained fairly restrained, which didn’t seem like a surprise for a character piece. Scenes in churches created a good sense of the environments, as did some outdoor/street shots. Music also boasted fine utilization of the different channels as well.

Audio quality appeared good. Speech seemed distinctive and concise, without roughness or brittleness.

Music was warm and full, and effects came across as accurate. The soundtrack worked nicely for the material.

In addition to an Alternate Opening (1:04), we get nine Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes. The latter span a total of 16 minutes, 16 seconds.

The “Opening” introduces the documentary crew before we meet the main characters, and it sets up another role that doesn’t become prominent until late. It seems intriguing but it pays off to far into the movie that it feels a bit superfluous.

As for the other scenes, they focus on mild exposition and provide a few decent elements. Nothing major appears but the clips deserve a look.

A Gag Reel runs three minutes, 34 seconds and shows some of the usual goofs and giggles. However, the actors improv enough to make the “Reel” more entertaining than most.

While Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul. attempts an ambitious mix of styles and themes, it fails to pull them off in a consistently satisfying manner. Aspects of the movie succeed but the end result never quite connects. The Blu-ray comes with very good picture and appropriate audio but it skimps on bonus materials. Honk mostly entertains but it doesn’t come together as well as it should.