BEFORE: I've been on Netflix a lot this month, which has reduced my Netflix watch-list to a more manageable level, and that's a good thing, only it doesn't open up any slots on the main list, only on the "streaming and someday/maybe" list, which is now also noticeably smaller. That's about to change because I need to go through the list of films which start streaming in April, plus I have a number of documentaries I want to put on that list so I'll be ready when the Doc Block time rolls around. The rest of April will be more cable/DVD heavy, which will start opening up slots on that list, which will then enable me to record some more movies from cable.
I think that the Netflix algorithm has finally figured me out, though, which took a number of years because my viewing patterns are so erratic. Netflix is now a channel on my cable system, so I don't know, the algorithm somehow tapped into my DVR preferences or my Google calendar or something in its A.I.-fueled goal to take my life over and, I don't know, maybe recommend so many movies I want to watch that I'll be too busy to notice when the robots take over society? How else do I explain that when I signed on to Netflix last night, the first two movies it recommended were the film I was planning to watch - which was NOT saved in my Netflix list, because I already had it on DVD, but I prefer to watch it with captions - and "Plastic Detox", which was the screening that I worked at last night at the theater. How the hell did it know?
Sterling K. Brown carries over from "Atlas".
THE PLOT: In the aftermath of a huge scandal, Trinitie Childs, the first lady of a prominent Southern Baptist Mega Church, attempts to help her pastor-husband, Lee-Curtis Childs, rebuild their organization.
AFTER: This feature was apparently based on a short film, and I saw some photos of that short while I was calling up the feature on the IMDB. It's funny, though, because usually when someone turns a short film into a feature, they add a lot more plot points to develop the story further, and here the choice was made to NOT do that, essentially just make the short longer. So there's still the same amount of story, meaning that a whole lot of nothing happens in the feature. It's a choice, maybe, but I don't know. Obviously I haven't seen the short, but it seems to tell the exact same story, right down to the worship-miming, which as far as I can tell, is not a real thing.
There's the pastor of a mega-church and his wife, or "First Lady", and their attendance is way down because of some scandal that broke a year or so ago, and you don't really have to take too many guesses to figure out what the scandal is. The pastor, who spoke out against same-sex relationship, was having a few of those of his own, with younger men. There were other egregious things, like spending money donated to the church on fast cars and designer clothing, but that's probably acceptable compared to the sex scandal. Either way, it's hard to see how they've managed to keep the property AND keep it maintained during the lapse in attendance, of course, church property isn't taxed, that may have something to do with it. Still, if money's not coming in, we've got two people who can't maintain the lifestyle they've become accustomed to, the simpler thing to do would be to sell some of their stuff, clothing or property or what have you, or just give up the whole church idea and go find another line of work.
But no, they're planning to re-open their mega-church, on Easter Sunday no less, and other than re-open, they don't seem to be planning much else - no plea for forgiveness, no admission of guilt, no explanation or press forgiveness tour. So sure, let's just keep doing what hasn't worked in the past, because maybe it will work THIS time. Most of their frequent attendees are now members of other parishes, like Heaven's Home, which is run by another couple who USED to be congregants at Wander to Greater Paths. So Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs comes up with a great idea to get the jump on the crowd at Heaven's Home by moving up the opening date of W.T.G.P. by two weeks, which would have been a great idea, of only the pastor of Heaven's Home hadn't decided to do the Christian thing and leave Easter to the Childses, by similarly moving up the opening date of Heaven's Home by two weeks.
Meanwhile, the documentary filmmaker who is profiling the Childses (that's how we're able to see behind the scenes of Wander to Greater Paths, through the lens of a fictitious doc maker) catches footage of the couple getting a phone call from their lawyer, informing them they will have to make payments to the young men accusing Lee-Curtis, it's all set except there's one hold-out who will not accept the settlement. We also see Lee-Curtis having a conversation with the sound recorder for the documentary film, offering him the opportunity to do A.V. work for the church, but also making a sexual advance toward him.
Things are so desperate that Lee-Curtis has Trinitie working out on the street holding up a sign, to let everyone know about when Wander to Greater Paths is going to open again. This causes a traffic jam when a car's passenger blocks the street, and it's the victim who won't settle the case. Other passersby berate Trinitie for the actions of her husband and mock his attempts to overcome the scandal. This is when Trinitie reverts to wearing mime make-up, which again, I'm pretty sure has nothing to do with any known religion, so it's just weird that it's a thing here.
Other than that, not much happens here, the Childs have five devout parishioners, but I'm pretty sure they're going to need more than that to stay in business - so, you know, maybe it's time to pack it in, and maybe that's the point here, but honestly it's tough to say with so little happening or being stated outright. Mostly things don't really go anywhere and therefore seem rather boring. Nothing offensive here, but nothing really stands out as great either - and it's not funny enough to be a comedy, not dark enough to be a drama, I guess you can call it satire on the state of religion in America, but did we really need that?
Directed by Adamma Ebo
Also starring Regina Hall (last seen in "Me Time"), Nicole Beharie (last seen in "42"), Conphidance, Austin Crute (last seen in "Booksmart"), Devere Rogers (last seen in "My Spy: The Eternal City"), Avis-Marie Barnes (last seen in "Pain Hustlers"), Andrea Laing (ditto), Robert Yatta, Greta Marable Glenn (last seen in "Just Mercy"), Selah Kimbro Jones (last seen in "Dear Santa"), Crystal Alicia Garrett, Perris Drew (last seen in "Blue Beetle"), Nastashia Fuller, Dhane Ross, Elle Young, Mike Dyl Anthony, Olivia D. Dawson, Shante DeLoach, Tiyanna Taplin, Jerome Beazer (last seen in "Senior Year"), Lance Avery Brown, Verlenzo Hawk, Mike Ray, Fatima Garba
RATING: 4 out of 10 donuts in the parking lot
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