Review: Ethan Hawke's FIRST REFORMED Is A Dark, Thought-Provoking Thriller That Follows A Pastor's Fall into Darkness

Writer/Director Paul Schrader is well-known for writing about the troubled mind (Raging Bull, Taxi Driver). But in his latest film, First Reformed, it's the person who is supposed to be most emotionally grounded that goes off his hinges. Ethan Hawke plays a pastor that is struggling to find peace following the death of his son and is tasked with helping a parishioner (Amanda Seyfried), after her husband, a radical environmentalist, commits suicide. Little does he know that this tragedy opens the floodgates for his own personal deep dark fall.

Hawke gives a very real and noteworthy performance, easily one of the best of his career.  He plays Toller, a pastor struggling to maintain a congregation while trying to appease the leader of an area mega-church, played by Cedric Kyles (formerly Cedric The Entertainer). The pressures of his job, in combination with his alcoholism thrusts him down a self-destructive path. 

Schrader's direction is brilliant, the movie does not have a traditional score, which not only adds to the empty and dark tone, it helps build the tension. The film gets more suspenseful with each minute that passes and it leaves the mind racing at the shocking conclusion. It's not a film for everyone, but there is no denying it is a finely-crafted work of art that explores the power of depression that will leave a lasting impression on its audience. 

First Reformed was screened in the main competition section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival and is set for limited release on May 18.