One of the common threads running through the best mockumentaries, from Rob Reiner’s 1984 classic “This Is Spinal Tap” through the catalog of affectionately prodding Christopher Guest films such as “Best in Show” (2000), “A Mighty Wind” (2003) and “Mascots” (2016), and even the inspired lunacy of Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” (2006) and “Bruno” (2009), is these faux-docs remain committed to the format throughout. Every scene we see is ostensibly shot by a documentary filmmaker chronicling the misadventures of its subjects.
Unfortunately, in the intermittently clever and poignant but far too long and eventually heavy-handed satire “Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.,” first-time feature filmmaker Adamma Ebo (adapting her 2018 short film of the same name) hedges her bets, undercutting the effectiveness of the format. For most of the story, we’re firmly ensconced in Christopher Guest territory, with the largely unseen documentary crew following around the subjects, who sit for interviews and from time to time address the director directly to ask for judicious editing or a pause in filming. But when the clearly talented writer-director-producer Ebo breaks from the format, e.g., in a bedroom scene involving the two leads that is framed like a traditional fictional drama and couldn’t possibly be shot by the documentary team, it’s jarring and it detracts from the overall effect.
