Jesus is Dead

Exhausted and overworked both at home and on the job, Iyay reluctantly hits the road in her decrepit multicab to pay last respects to her estranged husband Jesus, the father of her kids: transman Jude, Bert the dancer with Down Syndrome, and failure-to-launch Jay. Judas the dog and other unexpected guests hop on board in a seemingly solemn journey that quickly implodes into a series of hysterical, madcap misadventures.

Director Victor Villanueva rolls out a touching and utterly unique seriocomic take on the family road trip, paying homage to the broke-down minivan exploits of Little Miss Sunshine while adding his own mischievous, queer stylings.

For Iyay, her journey into a painful past pushes her closer to the brink of hysteria. But the kids aren’t thinking of their absentee father, whose prolonged absence left them nothing but a whole host of personal problems, all of which come to a head once they are trapped inside their mother’s cramped car. Along the way, the family gains and loses an assortment of oddball passengers, each of whom leaves behind bizarre, occasionally profound new dimensions of humor and heartache that turn this slapstick road movie into a deeper meditation on family and self-acceptance. Whether it’s an unorthodox nun desperate to shed her habit and cloistered way of life, an unsuspecting serial killer, or an assortment of drunks who initially harass and then befriend a love-sick Jude, the road trip at the heart of Jesus Is Dead works lovingly as microcosm for familial discord, loyalty, and affection.

Trailer...