After surviving a racially motivated mass shooting, a tight-knit Black community in Buffalo finds shelter in a barbershop—where grief, rage, and humor collide, and the survivors reimagine how things would be different…if they were Jesus.

SYNOPSIS:

On a seemingly normal Saturday afternoon, the lives of a group of working-class Black Buffalonians are shattered when a mass shooting erupts at a neighborhood grocery store.

Inspired by the 2022 Tops Friendly Market tragedy, IF I WAS…HIM, opens with vignettes of daily life: students finishing finals, barbers sharing jokes, women balancing tradition and ambition. Then—gunshots. Chaos. Blood. Grief.

Survivors flee to a nearby barbershop, run by Mamie—a widow, facing eviction from her shop due to tax issues. To the community, her shop is a cultural sanctuary and frontline of community healing. Due to the horrific crime, the surrounding area is put on lock-down. Barbers, customers, and neighbors are forced to shelter-in-place until it is safe.

One of them, Courtney, is a young biracial woman who was a cashier at the supermarket, is badly shaken by the violence she just escaped. Another, Blacksmith, is a veteran who’s seen combat overseas but never expected to fight at home. Everyone at the shop has a story and issues they are battling.

As they wait out the lock-down, inner desires, anger and fears are exposed. The conversation turns to…What would they do if they were Jesus?

What follows is a series of visionary, comedic, and biting “daydream” sequences:

• A Black Gladiator Jesus who conquers Rome with love and muscle.
• A Gangsta Jesus who breaks John the Baptist out of jail, then gets payback for his betrayal, by the hands of Judas.
• A Culinary Jesus who turns water to wine and opens a soul food seafood empire.
• A Rapper Jesus who delivers uplifting words with a hip-hop beat.
• A Scorn Jesus who wipes out all human life, as the first nail is pounded into his wrist.
• A Healing Machine Jesus who cures illness with a wink and builds hospitals from the dirt.
• A Stand-up Comic Jesus who uses humor to empathize his points.
• And a few others

Each character, in their own way, reclaims spiritual power with, joy, community love, and righteous rage.

A stranger who takes it all in, is asked about what he would do…if he were Him. His answers blow everyone’s mind and causes them to think about their true purpose on earth.

The film closes as miracle after miracle unfolds for all those in the shop. Even Mamie, the barbershop matriarch, ends up being spared from having to lose the community anchor that her store has become.

Josh E. – the stranger, is now seen as the source of the miracles. All are speechless as the souls of the slaughtered are absorbed into his body. After they witness this scene, the stranger disappears. But everyone’s faith in the power of love, expands…exponentially.

IF I WAS…HIM confronts the modern epidemic of white supremacy and gun violence through a cultural lens often ignored: Black reimagination.

IF I WAS…HIM is a political and spiritual sermon, disguised as barbershop talk. This film doesn’t beg for inner evolution—it demands it, through laughter, rage, pain, and healing.

For audiences, especially in marginalized communities, who often feel targeted…it offers a unique kind of response to an unwarranted attack. It reminds us that although guns can murder individuals, they cannot kill a community…whose foundation is rooted in love, compassion and hope.

IF I WAS...HIM