| First Reformed | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Paul Schrader |
| Written by | Paul Schrader |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Alexander Dynan |
| Edited by | Benjamin Rodriguez Jr. |
| Music by | Lustmord |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 114 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3.5 million[2] |
| Box office | $4 million[3] |
First Reformed is a 2017 Americanpsychological thriller film written and directed byPaul Schrader. It starsEthan Hawke as a minister of a smallcongregation inupstate New York who grapples with mounting despair brought on by tragedy, worldly concerns, and a tormented past.Amanda Seyfried,Cedric Kyles,Victoria Hill, andPhilip Ettinger appear in supporting roles.
The film had its world premiere at the74th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States on May 18, 2018, byA24. It grossed $4 million worldwide and received positive reviews from critics, who mostly praised Hawke's performance and Schrader's direction and writing. Both theNational Board of Review and theAmerican Film Institute selectedFirst Reformed as one of the top ten films of 2018, and Schrader was nominated forBest Original Screenplay at the91st Academy Awards for his work on the film. At the24th Critics' Choice Awards, Hawke was nominated forBest Actor and Schrader wonBest Original Screenplay, and, at the34th Independent Spirit Awards, the film garnered nominations forBest Feature,Best Director, andBest Screenplay, while Hawke wonBest Male Lead.
Reverend Ernst Toller of the First Reformed Church in Snowbridge, New York is writing down his thoughts in a journal for a year, after which he intends to destroy it. He leads a 250-year-oldDutch Reformed Church which was once a stop on theUnderground Railroad; it faces dwindling attendance under Toller's leadership, which has taken the church in a new direction and away from its historical focus on Reformed theology and today it serves mostly as a tourist attraction. In trying to manage his own life issues, such as his alcoholism, Toller seeks a deeper experience through reading Roman Catholic writings (G.K. Chesterton andThomas Merton) and mystical books (The Cloud of Unknowing). This new spiritual direction leads him to seek support from a nearby charismaticmegachurch, Abundant Life, which owns First Reformed.
Toller, a formermilitary chaplain, is also struggling with the death of his son Joseph, who was killed in theIraq War; Toller had encouraged him to enlist. He meets Mary, who is seeking counseling for herradical-environmentalist husband, Michael. He further challenges Toller's beliefs: Michael explains that he wants Mary to get an abortion, because he does not want to bring a child into a world that will be rendered almost uninhabitable byclimate change.
Mary finds asuicide vest belonging to her husband in their garage. Toller takes it, promising to counsel Michael about it. Mary and Toller discuss going to the police, but Toller feels it would dramatically worsen Michael's state. Just before their next appointment, Michael sends Toller a text message asking to meet in a local park. Toller arrives to find Michael dead of a self-inflicted shotgun wound. In accordance with Michael'swill and testament, a service is held at a local toxic-waste dump, where his ashes are scattered. Meanwhile, plans are underway to celebrate thesestercentennial of First Reformed with a service attended by the mayor, governor, and a notable industrialist, Edward Balq, a key financial backer of Abundant Life. At a meeting in a diner, Toller argues with Balq over climate change after Balq finds Toller honoring Michael's will a political act: Balq dismisses it as "complicated", but Toller sees it as a straightforward matter of Christianstewardship.
Experiencing various physical pains, Toller reluctantly sees a doctor, who suspects stomach cancer and schedules tests. Using Michael's laptop, which he took after his suicide to prevent the police discovering his radicalism and making trouble for Mary, Toller researches Michael's concerns further, including the materials which inspired him to make the explosive vest. One night, Mary visits Toller in theparsonage of the church, and he plays Michael's role in a nonsexual rite of physical intimacy that the couple used to perform.
Toller begs Mary not to attend the anniversary service. Preparing for his role in the ceremony, he puts on the explosive vest, and arms it. When he sees Mary entering for the ceremony, he removes the vest and instead wraps himself in barbed wire under hisalb. Toller pours a glass full ofdrain cleaner and is about to drink it when Mary interrupts him. The two embrace, kissing passionately before the film abruptly cuts to black.
The restrained style ofFirst Reformed recalls the films ofYasujiro Ozu,Robert Bresson, andCarl Theodor Dreyer that Schrader wrote about in his 1972 bookTranscendental Style in Film.[4] Elements of the script allude to Bresson'sDiary of a Country Priest (1951),Ingmar Bergman'sWinter Light (1963), and the work of Dreyer,[5] as well as Schrader's own script forTaxi Driver (1976).[6] Schrader said thatPaweł Pawlikowski's filmIda (2013) inspired him to shoot in a 1.33:1aspect ratio, saying it "drives the vertical lines, so you get more of the human body in the frame."[4] Before approaching Seyfried, Schrader discussed castingMichelle Williams in the role of Mary.[7]
Principal photography lasted 20 days, with a budget of $3.5 million.[2][8][9][10] The film was shot aroundBrooklyn andQueens, New York, including the building and grounds of theZion Episcopal Church inDouglaston.[11]
First Reformed premiered in the main competition section of the74th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2017.[12][13] It was also screened at the44th Telluride Film Festival on September 2, and at the42nd Toronto International Film Festival on September 12.[14][15]
In September 2017,A24 acquired the film's North American distribution rights.[16][17][18] It was given alimited theatrical release in the United States on May 18, 2018,[19] and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on July 13, 2018.[20] The screenplay was published byArchway Editions on January 31, 2023, with an introduction byMasha Tupitsyn.[21]
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Its opening weekend, the film made $100,270 from four theaters, averaging $25,067 per screen—one of the best per-screen averages of Schrader's career.[22][23] By the end of its theatrical run, it had grossed $3,448,256 in the United States and Canada and $540,356 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $3,988,612.[3][24]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 94% of 254 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "Brought to life by delicate work from writer-director Paul Schrader and elevated by a standout performance by Ethan Hawke,First Reformed takes a sensitive and suspenseful look at weighty themes."[25]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[26]
A. O. Scott ofThe New York Times wrote: "First Reformed wrestles with contemporary reality, but it isn't a work of realism in the way that term is conventionally understood. The dialogue is delivered with formal, almost stiff cadences, and the images are crisp, graceful and plain."[27]Justin Chang of theLos Angeles Times described the film as "a cinephile's delight and a believer's conundrum, an austere Americanart film with a bracingB-movie soul, and a story in which the cruelest of cosmic punchlines may finally be no different from the most beautiful accession of grace."[28]David Sims ofThe Atlantic called the film "a tale ofexistential woe [...] an embittered look at our world through the eyes of someone who’s increasingly horrified to be a part of it, and a film that’s one of the most searing cinema experiences of the year."[29]Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian said that "the sheerBunyanesque severity of this film is as refreshing as a glass of ice-cold water", and called it "a passionately focused film but not a masterpiece", noting that the name of the lead character is an allusion to the German playwrightErnst Toller.[30]Michael Phillips ofThe Chicago Tribune stated that "for such a deliberate exercise in a specific, methodical style,First Reformed is oddly bracing, full of unresolved, contradictory, vital ideas."[31]
In July 2025, it was one of the films voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition ofThe New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 122.[32] That same month, it ranked number 39 onRolling Stone's list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century."[33]
The film received nominations at the34th Independent Spirit Awards forBest Film,Best Director, andBest Screenplay, and Hawke won the award forBest Male Lead.[34][35] At the24th Critics' Choice Awards, the film was nominated forBest Actor andBest Original Screenplay, winning the latter.[36] Schrader and Hawke were awardedBest Screenplay andBest Actor, respectively, at the28th Gotham Independent Film Awards.[37] Both theNational Board of Review andAmerican Film Institute listedFirst Reformed as one of the Top 10 Films of 2018, and the National Board of Review also gave Schrader their award forBest Original Screenplay.[38][39] Schrader's screenplay was also nominated forBest Original Screenplay at the91st Academy Awards,[40] marking the first Oscar nomination of his long filmmaking career.[41]
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