First Reformed (2018)

First Reformed is one of those rare dramas that feels like a clean, sharp blade: spare, precise, and quietly devastating, building its power not through big speeches but through the way dread and doubt seep into every frame. Paul Schrader directs with austere control, turning a small upstate church and a pastor’s private journal into an arena for spiritual crisis and moral reckoning, and Ethan Hawke delivers a performance so raw and contained you can almost hear the pressure rising behind his eyes. The film’s vibe is somber and disconcerting, yet bracingly alive with ideas—about faith, grief, responsibility, and what we do when the world’s pain becomes personal—without ever slipping into easy answers. It’s not for viewers looking for comfort or lightness, but if you want cinema that challenges you and lingers long after the credits, this is the kind you’re glad you took a chance on.

First Reformed is aiming for a stark, spiritual gut-check about faith, despair, and moral responsibility in the face of environmental collapse, and it commits to that mission with almost no interest in comforting you. Paul Schrader’s style is deliberately austere and claustrophobic, and the story leans hard into grief, suicidal ideation, and self-destruction, so if you’re looking for catharsis, warmth, or even a conventional “arc,” you may find it punishing. Ethan Hawke is excellent in a quiet, corroding performance, and the film’s precision and seriousness can be gripping if you like slow-burn character studies that sit with uncomfortable ideas. But if bleakness feels like a chore or you prefer drama that offers clear emotional release, this one will likely feel more like endurance than entertainment.