After the death of his son, Toller's life turns to a nightmare. Although his sadness, he has to be optimistic and faithful as he works as a chaplain. He struggles to solve the trouble of that woman who comes to the church after her husband's suicide.
"First Reformed" takes some wild, unexpected and uncomfortable turns in its final act that will surely shock some, anger others and disturb just about everyone. For Schrader, it shows that he's still got it. Welcome back.
Ultimately its sheer archness reveals Paul Schrader as a gifted and deeply persuasive evangelist of the transcendental style - if not quite a canon saint.
The film can't quite summon the anguish to go full Taxi Driver - the conclusion balks right at the edge of the abyss - but Schrader's images have never been crisper, and Hawke is transfixing.
This is a movie about faith tested, and people trying to reconcile hope with a world that can feel hopeless. It's a film to be seen in a dark theater with an audience hushed in reverence of the power of cinema.
Schrader wastes the good work of cinematographer Alexander Dynan - whose framing of every scene is flawlessly precise - and by Hawke, who continues to evolve as an actor in independent productions such as this.
"First Reformed" is a miracle in its own regard, the rare type of film that leaves us with questions left to answer and for many, a desire to dig into it deeper through a second viewing.
The latest film from pugnacious director/writer Paul Schrader is as austere and revelatory as a church confessional...It's a bleak portrait of a man in the midst of a spiritual breakdown that is only slightly undone by its rather unsatisfying conclusion.
