First Reformed is a 2018 psychological drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader and distributed by the indie company A24. For those unfamiliar with Schrader’s work he has had an up and down career as a director but as a writer he has written some of the great American films, most notably by Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Taxi Driver). Many can see this film almost as Taxi Driver for the modern day, even though the story and context are different the themes are still present. Having our main protagonist Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke) who has a lot of contrast to the character of Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) portrays an isolated man who has guilt, melancholy, and past demons. With Scrhader’s writing and Hawke’s performance, both of these men are able to really make us investe with Toller because of his demeanor behavior, quiet and kind sensitive personality instead of portraying him as angry and violent which gives us the audience further insight into how he deals with all this dread by writing in a diary and narrating to us the audience.
The setting takes place in today’s modern world inside a decaying church, hence the title “First Reformed” while reaching its 250th anniversary that feels very rooted in history at this time. While serving as a pastor there Toller feels resentful and repentant because of the short attendance the church takes in and lack of courage the new generation views towards the faith. Day by day he feels trapped in almost a cerebral web, but yet he still keeps his devoted faith even when we constantly question if he feels lost to it. But one day his faith is tested, one of the frequent churchgoers named Mary who is pregnant asks Toller to discuss specific issues with her husband who is not a member or devoted, but is an environmental political activist for climate change named Michael. Without giving too much detail about said conversation that takes place it is there Toller starts to have a different outlook of the world and tries to balance the feelings of hope and despair. And in ways is his own call to adventure for the remainder of the film.
I feel that if I didn’t at least mention the filmmaking approach it would be apathetic. Schrader’s stylistic approach is a standout of its own, it almost feels like genre piece all together while as I mentioned in the beginning as a psychological drama it also feels part satire, part horror even at times and while the films story might has a lot of realism to it, it also has a dash of surrealism as well. For Schrader to shoot this by using a 4:3 aspect ratio was a bold choice, making the character of Toller feel boxed in and apprehensive with the world around him. The film feels like it’s always changing, especially after the conversation Toller has with the character Michael, which is exactly the point the Schrader is trying to make. The world is always changing, particularly ethics and morality to the point where we feel like we’re almost walking a tightrope between the hope and despair which some of us face and are the core themes of this film. Without specific details of the films ending some may see it lacking some cohesion, personally I feel it’s pretty alluring on what the whole film was telling us in the first place about deep pain, emotion and chaos roaming through the world. And even though we might not be able to fix everything around us as bad as it may seem, at least we can focus and love what we do have.
This film works for so many reasons as I mentioned earlier but as dark and gray as things may look at times here, yet it still manages to feel like a breath of fresh air to what most of us see in mainstream movies today. And raise awareness to people’s stories we may not hear much from either, A24 the distributors for this film manage to keep giving us stories that feel so unique and authentic to what we don’t get much of in the mainstream Hollowood industry. For those unfamiliar with A24 they’re films they have distribute over the years include coming-of-age tales such as (Lady Bird, Mid90’s, Eighth Grade, The Florida project, and Moonlight) along with elevated art house horror pictures (The Witch, The Lighthouse, Hereditary, Midsommer, and It Comes at Night) and many more that are prepossessing in they’re catalog. Definitely worth anyone’s time that is seeking out more small scale movies with layers to unfold upon it and the fact that the film is 4 years old now and still being discussed is quite the standout.
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By Danny Manna @Cinemanna24- Nerdthusiast Content Creator
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