First Reformed Dvd

First Reformed is a 2017 American drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It stars Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried, and Cedric the Entertainer (credited as Cedric Kyles), and follows a Protestant minister struggling with his faith while serving as pastor of a dwindling historic church in upstate New York. Elements of the film allude to Robert Bresson’s Diary of a Country Priest (1951), Ingmar Bergman’s Winter Light (1963), and the work of Carl Dreyer, as well as Schrader’s own script for Taxi Driver (1976).

First Reformed was screened at the 74th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2017, and was released in the United States on May 18, 2018, by A24. The film was acclaimed by critics, who gave specific praise to Hawke’s performance and Schrader’s screenplay and direction. The film was chosen by both the National Board of Review and American Film Institute as one of the top 10 films of 2018. Schrader’s screenplay won at the Critics’ Choice Awards, and was nominated at both the Independent Spirit Awards and the Academy Awards. At the Independent Spirit Awards, the film also received nominations for Best Film, Best Male Lead (Hawke), and Best Director.

Plot

Ernst Toller is the pastor of the First Reformed Church in Snowbridge, New York, who is struggling with a crisis of faith. The film opens with him writing down his thoughts in a journal, which he plans to keep for a year, and then destroy. He leads a 250-year-old Dutch Reformed Church which was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. It faces dwindling attendance under Toller’s leadership, which has taken the church away from its historical focus on Calvinist theology; it now serves mostly as a tourist attraction. Toller, a former military chaplain, is also struggling with the death of his son Joseph, who was killed in the Iraq War, and with alcoholism. Toller seeks a deeper spiritual understanding through reading Roman Catholic writers (G. K. Chesterton and Thomas Merton) and mystical books (The Cloud of Unknowing). This leads him to seek support from Abundant Life, the evangelical megachurch in Albany that owns First Reformed.

He is approached by Mary, who is seeking counseling for Michael, her radical-environmentalist husband. Michael further challenges Toller’s beliefs: he 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 by climate change. Mary finds a suicide 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 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’s will and testament, a service is held at a local toxic-waste dump, where his ashes are scattered.

Meanwhile, plans are underway to celebrate the sestercentennial of First Reformed with a service attended by the mayor, the governor, and Edward Balq, one of Abundant Life’s key financial backers and the owner of a polluting factory. At a meeting in a diner, Balq takes issue with Toller honoring Michael’s will and deems it a political act, and the two argue over climate change: Balq dismisses it as “complicated”, but Toller sees it as a straightforward matter of Christian stewardship.

Experiencing physical pain, Toller reluctantly sees a doctor, who suspects stomach cancer and schedules some tests. Toller has Michael’s laptop computer, which he took after Michael’s suicide to prevent the police from discovering Michael’s radicalism and making trouble for Mary. He uses it to research Michael’s concerns, including the materials on Balq’s factory which inspired him to make the explosive vest. One night, Mary visits Toller in the parsonage 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 his alb. Toller pours a glass full of drain cleaner and is about to drink it when Mary interrupts him. The two embrace, kissing passionately before the film abruptly cuts to black.

Cast

Ethan Hawke as Pastor Ernst Toller, leader of a tiny historic church who is going through several personal crises
Amanda Seyfried as Mary Mensana, a pregnant widow and parishioner at First Reformed
Cedric Kyles as Pastor Joel Jeffers, megachurch pastor at the evangelical Abundant Life church
Victoria Hill as Esther, a worker at Abundant Life who is in love with Toller
Philip Ettinger as Michael Mensana, a radical environmentalist and anti-natalist whose suicide emboldens Toller
Michael Gaston as Edward Balq, local industrialist and financier of Abundant Life
Bill Hoag as John Elder, church organist at First Reformed (Performed by William E. Gati on the organ for Music Department and Soundtrack)