First Reformed

Members of the clergy are an under represented group in cinema. In Hollywood, they are usually portrayed as exemplars of good behavior, such as in Going My Way or The Bishop's Wife. More complicated examinations of the profession come from overseas, in films like Priest and Winter Light. So it was refreshing to see writer-director Paul Schraeder look at what it might be like to be a minister in today's America.

First Reformed is the story of Reverend Ernst Toller (a name borrowed from a leftist German playwright), expertly played by Ethan Hawke in the best performance of his career. He is 46, his son killed in Iraq after he was urged to join by his father, which broke up his marriage. He is the pastor at a very old church somewhere in New York state. It's more of a tourist site than an active place of worship, as only a handful of people show up for services.

One of them is Amanda Seyfried as a young woman whose husband is troubled. He agrees to seek counsel from Hawke, who comes to listen to the despair of an environmental activist who has a pregnant wife and doesn't want to bring another child in the world. The young man has no hope about the future of the Earth, what with climate change accelerating the melting of the poles.

Hawke starts to think more about what the man says, and does his own research into the matter, and sees it as a religious issue--Will God forgive us for what we have done to his creation? The church is celebrating its sestercentennial, and the chief benefactor is the owner of an industry that is one of the world's greatest polluters. Hawke has a brief and unpleasant interaction with the man, and he makes a bold decision.

I've left out some key plot points because they came as complete surprises to me and even though a few of them happen early in the film it wouldn't be fair to mention them. Suffice it to say that the character arc for Hawke goes in a consistently downward spiral.

First Reformed, at certain angles, resembles Taxi Driver, believe it or not (which Schraeder also wrote). Hawke is keeping a journal, and much of the film is voice over, just like Travis Bickle's in Taxi Driver. What Hawke sees all around him disgusts him, and he is forced to act by his own demons. Both films deal with loneliness--think of Bickle in his small room, talking into the mirror, and then watch Hawke alone at night, eating his dinner. He has had a relationship with the church choir director (Victoria Hill) but she clings to him, needing to take care of him, and he is repulsed.

First Reformed is one the best films I've seen this year, and I will be rooting for Hawke to be nominated for an Oscar, as well as Schraeder for Best Original Screenplay.