Bisaya satirical short 'Walk with Jesus' gets X-rating

His 15-minute satirical film “Walk with Jesus” follows Maya (played by Agatha Libera), who is on the brink of being executed by a gang resembling demons when Jesus (Doydoy Megrino) steps in to save her.

- By JANUAR JUNIOR AGUJA

From there, Maya and Jesus spend a daylong walk through the streets of Davao, where He quotes scriptures from the Bible to show her that she still has a chance to turn her life around.

But the presentation isn’t entirely dramatic; it’s the opposite. With budots music as its soundtrack, it’s crafted as a surreal comedy, with scenes that include Maya and Jesus encountering a zombie-like possessed person during their walk, as well as Maya briefly walking on water to follow Jesus before falling down.

“I have embraced satire as my personal style in filmmaking since I was able to think outside of the box,” Honoridez, who originally wanted to make noir and crime thrillers, told The FREEMAN. “I enjoy memes online, which probably sparked my influence.”

“I am showing how I have personally reflected from scripture and got to know Christ on a deeper level — as God and Lord and King, but also as your best friend,” he added. “I thought of this in college, about a person at their lowest who sees Jesus and takes a walk with Him to find the answers to life’s uncertainties. I redeveloped this concept years later with my friend Nikko Martinez, who is my co-writer, associate producer, and played the role of the ‘Yawa Leader.”

Honoridez and his crew shot “Walk with Jesus” in Davao last January over a three-day filming period, with postproduction completed when he returned to Cebu. Filmed guerrilla style, he anticipated that his unusual depiction of Biblical lessons would draw mixed responses.