Tubi Tuesday: Jovi & Lou (2023)

“Jovi & Lou” is a funny and provocative take on the eternal fight between light and dark and our search for existential meaning.

At some point, everyone ponders the meaning of life, the nature of the universe, and the existence of divinity.

Writer and director Terry Spears presents viewers with a thought-provoking scenario. What if your loved one was dying? What would you do to save them? Anything and everything — including making a deal with the devil?

Spears’ entertaining and twisted dark comedy, Jovi & Lou, follows the story of Joey Soloman (Rhys Gillett), whose wife Mary (Corinne Mica) is in a car accident and lies comatose in the hospital.

In the grand scheme of things, Joey and Mary are just two small fish in a vast ocean. However, they come to the attention of two very powerful figures. Jovi (Victoria Strange), a Godlike figure, and devilish Lou (Trevor Van Uden) play a Jenga-like puzzle game to decide the fate of random human beings.

Lou intervenes in the Solomons’ lives by causing Mary’s accident. Lou tells Joey that if he kills three of the most despicable people he can find, his wife will be saved.

Spear’s film takes us through a rabbit hole to the center of the universe that encompasses all spiritual belief systems.

It’s a delightful and witty romp from one plane of existence to the next.

We see not only God and the Devil but a wonderfully eccentric Jesus (Maurice Tillman).

Each character is from a different spiritual practice or belief system. Many names from mythology are mentioned in the dialogue, such as the Greek goddess Hera. Buddha (Jayanti Sharma) and Mohammed (Albi Neziri) also make appearances.

The cast works well together as a cohesive unit.

The disorientated Joey bumbles through very unsuccessful attempts at stalking. The confused Mary navigates another dimension and stumbles onto an outdoor buffet where revered spiritual figures gather together. And Jovi and Lou, as one character puts it, argue like an old married couple. 

Overall, Spears’ film takes a light approach to what most regard as a grave and thought-provoking subject.

Jovi and Lou bicker back and forth about the past. Jesus whimsically waltzes in and out of scenes while Joey tries to figure out how to be a successful serial killer.

Settings vary and change from Mary and Joey’s nondescript house to an elegant sitting room in which Jovi and Lou play games of fate. Scenes of Mary traveling through the other dimension as her physical body lies in a hospital bed are eye-catching.

One scene looks as if Mary is descending into a gothic stone crypt covered in graffiti, then into an elegantly decorated room that looks like an art gallery or museum, and a pleasant outdoor garden party. Jovi and Lou are dressed in vintage costumes reminiscent of old Hollywood. Jovi wears her platinum blonde curls in a vintage style reminiscent of Jean Harlow. In another scene, she wears a white dress in the style of Marilyn Monroe’s iconic scene in the Seven Year Itch.

Jovi & Lou presents life’s questions in a way that’s witty, fun, and entertaining.

The film playfully pokes fun at serious subjects. It’s a way of taking time out to laugh at ourselves and let go of what we can’t control in life.

Jovi & Lou could provide a much-needed laugh in the face of an existential crisis.