The Book of Clarence (2023) review

Small-time drug dealer Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield), who's best friends with Elijah (RJ Cyler), is having a rough time during the ye ol' Biblical Days: his brother Thomas (Stanfield again) thinks he "lacks honor," he owes money to Jedediah (Eric Kofi-Abrefa) but is in love with Jedediah's sister Varinia (Anna Diop) so he decides he wants to be the 13th Apostle of Jesus of Nazareth (Nicholas Pinnock) yet when that doesn't turn out in his favor, he realizes he should become the next Messiah by "performing miracles" with Elijah (... and is crucified).  This contributes absolutely nothing of value to the Christ Narrative and is too poorly thought-out to be remotely offensive or worthy of post-screening debate (at least the Pythons tried be humorous with Life of Brian): it has severe pacing issues and is always too eager to lecture ("Knowledge is stronger than belief").  Director Samuel, who's also a musician/producer, seems like the type of bloke who's never been told "no" in his entire career or offered constructive criticism ... and if he had, I'm sure his hubris prevented him from listening and actually trying to correct his flaws.  Altogether, it's kind of a confused project ... and a bit of a costly one as well (with a budget of $40 million).