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| Scene from First Reformed |
The latest film from director and writer Paul Schrader is a war for balance. Early on in the film, it's established that one cannot have hope without despair. So is the struggle of Toller (Ethan Hawke), a priest about to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the First Reformed church. It's a place that's meant to bring hope, but what happens when Toller's life is nothing but despair, drawing him to alcoholism and an overwhelming sense that the Earth will perish? Schrader's vision of faith is a classic sense of nihilism, capturing what happens when despair wins the war. By the end, the film has created a scenario that would take even the most devoted viewer want to believe in hope, even as it it creates a vision of despair so uncomfortable that it's both antagonistic and blissful.
