Sooooo shocked about the outcome of this movie. If not for the ending this movie would've been a contender for one of the best ever made, but Schrader just didn't want/know how to resolve this one. If the runtime was about 10 minutes longer with a more thought-out resolution I would've considered this movie flawless as a character study. Shame. With that said still one of the best movies I've seen this year.

This film tells the story of a clergyman who is shaken by the death of a man in his parish.It is interesting to see a film merging religion and environmental issues in one. It is a good way to raise awareness to the issues discussed in the film. In addition, acting is good, the technical aspects are good as well. Though I don't quite think the ending should be the way it is, it is still an interesting watch.

There are some film that comes to my mind when i watch this film: Winter Light, The Devil Probably, The Diary of a Country Priest, Sacrifice, and Nostalghia. Paul Schrader has said that this film have the same root and feel with the directors whose films i just mentioned. but then, i also find a connection to his previous film Taxi Driver, both Toller and Travis Bickle had a different perception towards the world they were living.Toller was a troubled man to say the least, he was haunted by his past, present, and also his future. his son was killed and then his marriage crumbled, he has a cancer now, and he is worried about the future of the planet. he was also experiencing doubt about everything that he was preaching, and he wrote his doubt on a diary as a form of prayer hoping to find answer someday. it's hard not to hear the voice of god, the voice of certainty when you need it the most, to float on a space and time not knowing what to do, Toller was also highly depressed, he was either had a little common sense or too much sense to live in the world or the REAL world as Reverend Joel Jeffers called it. Toller has no place in the world where he could find peace, it's his curse, he sees no way out.Paul Schrader's strength has always been in his character, it's always complex and merciless, but as much as he cared about the foreground, he is also cared about the background, the setting, First Reformed is the name of a "tourist" church owned by a company or an organization named Abundant Life, it's more like a company rather than a belief society, one of the referend was laughing at a funny stuff that Martin Luther was doing, etc. this setting helped to create a character so dark and secluded that it could only existed in Paul's universe.

For someone to say Ethan Hawke was born for this role must of lived a pretty morbid life. Yes I'm a fan of Ethan but this film will not be on his list of good films because this movie by no accounts was good.. The pace was horrible. Slow and sluggish. It takes 40 mins. for something to appear and once it does you can end it there nothing else happens.The acting was on par but I didn't see any on screen charisma the characters didn't seem like they meshed well. It could also be the dialogue because when characters star doing things out of character or changing their routines erratically it's hard to relate at all to what your watching. There isn't really much to talk about either with this film the cinematography was avg. Music was a few old hyms and a song written by a conspiracy theorist. There was one scene for special effects and the storyline seemed like it could of went somewhere but the writing was futile and had too many holes. The ending reaffirms my conclusion that this film lacked any mojo, for one whole minute they make you witness the most awkward kiss on screen at the end. All in all I give this a terrible time wasted rating at 3 for 'First Reformed' Ethan can't save this flick don't waste your time attending this funeral.