Jeymes Samuel’s The Harder They Fall was a pleasant surprise and a critical success for Netflix. His follow-up, The Book of Clarence, takes a similarly anachronistic approach to a familiar genre. This time, Samuel takes on the religious epic. The film presents an alternative biblical story adjacent to the story of the last days of Jesus Christ. This apocrypha is simplistic and familiar, so much so that when David Oyelowo’s John the Baptist exposition dumps the premise unnecessarily the plot itself almost feels like a punchline.

Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield) and his friend Elijah (RJ Cyler) owe a man known as Jedediah the Terrible (Eric Kofi Abrefa) money that they don’t have. To further complicate things, Clarence is in love with Jedediah’s sister Varinia (Anna Diop). If he can’t pay Jedidiah back in 30 days, not only will he never be able to court Varinia, he will be crucified.

The same anachronism that people enjoyed in The Harder They Fall, a streaming film, translates to a difficult to market adventure dramedy in the theatrical space. The Book of Clarence won’t make money. It is a somewhat anonymous counter-programming to the Mean Girls musical reboot. (I was the only person in my opening day screening, to give one anecdotal account). And while it is certainly not a movie worth dismissing outright, The Book of Clarence is not consistent or engaging enough to stick in the craw of cultural memory.

The film is occasionally visually inventive, and it contains a propulsive, sumptuous soundtrack. It is also often very funny (when clunky line delivery or over-acted reaction shots don’t get in the way). But this story is flat and uninspired. For something setting out to partially rewrite the Bible, it is odd that it all comes across as done before.

I have always been a fan of LaKeith Stanfield and RJ Cyler. They both do interesting work here. Stanfield does well with the more dramatic deliveries but struggles with some of the comic beats. Cyler is the opposite, as he is responsible for the film’s funniest moments but is less convincing in intense scenes.

Ultimately, the story in The Book of Clarence lacks the same verve of the filmmaking. And the subtext does not contain enough depth to preach a substantive gospel. What the film has is personality and a strong sense of humor, but this gets drowned out by wishy-washy meditations on good will and the human spirit, with the tone alternating awkwardly between comedy and drama.

The Book of Clarence: C+

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As always, thanks for reading!

—Alex Brannan (Letterboxd, Facebook)