TikTok Breakout Star Terri Joe Faces a Crisis of Faith in wild and Unfiltered New Comedy ‘Missionary in Miami’
Terri Joe’s TikTok Lives, where she “rebukes” fellow creators and even celebrities like Madonna, have become must-watch events, blending satire with biting social commentary.
Mark
TikTok has proven time and again that it can launch the next wave of entertainment stars, turning short-form creators into bona fide cultural forces. Few embody that trajectory better than Kelon Campbell, the comedian and performer whose viral alter ego Terri Joe has become one of the platform’s most recognizable, and outrageous, personalities.
Now, Campbell is taking a major step into the mainstream with his first feature film, Terri Joe: Missionary in Miami, a broad, unapologetic comedy set to premiere exclusively on Tubi later this month.
Campbell, who posts under the handle Psyiconic, is known for cycling through a roster of sharply defined characters that skewer class, race and religious hypocrisy. Fans may recognize glamorous socialite Jeorgia Peach, British royal Amoura Rose or gothic vampire Amethyst Jade. But it is Terri Joe, a conservative, devoutly Christian Southern white woman with a fear of anything “homoseggshuh,” who has become his breakout star.
Terri Joe’s TikTok Lives, where she “rebukes” fellow creators and even celebrities like Madonna, have become must-watch events, blending satire with biting social commentary. The character’s appeal lies in how fully realized she feels, a product of Campbell’s lived experience growing up Black and queer in the Houston suburb of Humble, Texas, surrounded by the kind of passive-aggressive religiosity Terri Joe embodies.
That larger-than-life persona now gets room to breathe in Terri Joe: Missionary in Miami. In the film, Terri Joe lives with her mother in Louisiana, doing her best to walk a righteous path while working at a local market. Her quiet life is upended when masked men rob the store, forcing Terri Joe to flee. When the criminals begin searching for her, her presence puts her mother in danger, leading to Terri Joe being kicked out of her home.
With nowhere else to go, she calls her cousin Jeorgia Peach, also played by Campbell, who is en route to South Florida for Miami Swim Week. Terri Joe follows her to Miami, a setting that immediately clashes with her rigid worldview. Determined to find a church and atone for her perceived sins, Terri Joe instead encounters drag queens, hard-partying club kids and, most shocking of all to her, gay Christians.
As she navigates Miami’s “Vice City” chaos, Terri Joe faces a genuine crisis of faith, forcing her to confront the contradictions in her beliefs. Meanwhile, the criminals from back home are still on her trail, adding an element of farce and danger to the fish-out-of-water comedy. According to the trailer, fans can also expect appearances from other Campbell creations, including Amethyst Jade, underscoring the performer’s versatility.
The film is directed by Dale S. Lewis and co-stars Andrew Romano, Chase Alan Garland, Katie Keene, Dylan Bougis, Adam Crain, Rolin Alexis and Jasmine Hurt.
Terri Joe: Missionary in Miami premieres Jan. 30 on Tubi. With its unfiltered humor and pointed satire, the film positions Campbell as more than a viral sensation, it marks him as a rising comedic voice ready for a much bigger stage.
