The Reverend Ernst Toller is the minister at First Reformed church, a small congregation in upstate New York. Mary, a young woman in the community, asks him to counsel her husband, who is struggling with her pregnancy. Michael is an environmental activist who is gripped by despair and hopelessness – he cannot imagine bringing a child into this world. Ernst (Ethan Hawke) takes him on, but it’s a tough case, and he relates more to the wife (Amanda Seyfried) than to the husband, who seems unreachable.
But the truth is, the Reverend is in no condition to counsel anyone. He’s messed up. 
And Michael’s question “Can God forgive us for what we’ve done to this world?” messes him up even more. He defends god, but struggles privately. He takes up Michael’s obsession but continues to pollute his own body, as we watch his physical and mental health spiral downward.
The first half of the movie is a lot of Ernst feverishly and guiltily Googling, while also drinking himself to death. It’s is not overly compelling stuff. But it’s super jarring when there’s suddenly a scene that feels like a complete divergence from everything that came before it. It’s almost like director Paul Schrader is shaking things up to allow room for the spiritual. He reminds us that we’re not in charge. We may think we know what’s happening, but we don’t.
And that’s true. I was very caught off guard by the ending, and there’s not many stories in the world that I don’t see coming a mile away. I mean, we know this dude is having a breakdown in a major way. But things get extreme, and, um, open to interpretation? This movie is getting a lot of love from the critics, but it does boil down to: 90% boring, 2% omg wtf, and I guess 8% wrapping your head around Cedric the Entertainer’s casting. It’s one you’ll have to see for yourself.
Ethan Hawke is quite good, and he has to be because this character embodies so many conflicts – faith & science, love & fear, strength & despair, consecration & desecration. It’s hard to really put this one into words, which I think is kind of the point. Schrader tackles the inexpressible, he goes there, and treats spirituality with more seriousness than I’ve seen from a movie in a long, long time. It does not make for fun viewing. Can you hack that? Is that how you want to spend 108 minutes?
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
Hmm think I’d like to see it for the acting, but 108 mins inner turmoil might be a bit too much for a shallow creature like me.
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I like Ethan Hawke. I will definitely give this a try.
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Ethan is a tremendous actor and personality conflicts, they go perfectly. The issue is to dilute 108 minutes with these existential problems. Besides, your review is excellent.
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I think it sounds intriguing, the acting is a plus, and I love surprises…I am definitely going to watch this 😊
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Is the ending WTF–that came out of nowhere and makes no sense or WTF–I did not see that coming, but it makes perfect sense? Because I can get behind the second, but the first…
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There is no perfect sense.
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A movie that is 90% boring huh? Erm…well…I would watch this one purely for the acting, but as intriguing as it sounds..90% boring is well…a little bit too much. Maybe I will check this one out at some point 😊
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Is aEthan Hawke ever in a bad film. I’m going to watch this, sounds right up my street.
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90% boring is a bit of an ask.
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I’m waiting for this film to be on DVD as I really want to see this as I’m just interested in the ideas over the loss of faith and meaning which I feel is starting to happen more and more these days in these horrible times.
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I love a good nonsensical and slightly draining flick. Bring it on!
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I liked the sound of it, maybe it’ll be one to watch late at night on Film 4 in a year or so…
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That is a very specific plan and I love it.
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My son and I both enjoyed this, but we differed on our interpretation of the ending. Won’t be a movie for everyone, no doubt. We had to go to our artsy theater to find it.
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Yeah, and I think mine is perhaps notably ‘wrong’ but when a director choose a deliberately vague ending, that’s what you get.
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My interpretation was a happy one. His was a sad one. Makes me feel better to go with mine. 😁
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I like Ethan Hawke’s stuff, but that 90% boring bit has shifted it to a ‘maybe, when the snows return’ viewing time. 🙂
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I can’t believe you said this is 90% boring and I’m still interested. Lol. This review is a great tease. 🙂
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90% boring. 108 minutes. I dunno, Jay, I reckon I could do that. It sounds interesting enough to jump in… though I’ll definitely be waiting until it appears on DVD or suchlike.
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Nice review. I really think this film is philosophical and contemplative and not every movie should be fast-paced. It is also quite intriguing. And yes, heh, love your last comment – it may be just me but that is exactly how I want to spend my self-punishing 108 minutes 🙂
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