First Reformed is directed by Paul Schrader, the writer of Taxi Driver. For those who haven’t seen it, 1) you’ve probably already imitated Bickle, and 2) that movie is in part about a man left so upset by the spineless people in power he becomes so desperate he must act, in perhaps a dangerous way. First Reformed swaps out Robert De Niro for Ethan Hawke and modernizes the story a bit, but this concept of the broken man seeking justice is no less potent today than it was in 1976, particularly in the political climate today with faith in politicians near record low levels.
First Reformed is the name of a very small church in upstate New York, run by Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke). The church and reverend have seen better days: Sunday services are sparsely attended, with people today preferring to go to the megachurch run by Cedric the Entertainer, and the Reverend becoming a glorified tour guide with a host of medical issues. Toller starts to change when he meets Mary (Amanda Seyfried). She’s married to a man named Michael (Philip Ettinger), who’s so terrified of how we’ve polluted the planet that he must take drastic action, including possibly trying to abort his child.
For many people, suicide bombers, school shooters, and such are these completely evil people possessed by the devil to commit heinous atrocities. First Reformed is a reminder that radicalism is carried out by PEOPLE. The warning signs are all there. We see Michael in states of isolation from the world, choosing to live through the internet and data and not connect with anyone, even his own wife. With no one to connect with, you mind becomes your own worst enemy, choosing to warp facts and information to fit a narrative you’ve made up in your head. Finally, when people reach out for help, they are pushed aside or perhaps have other powerful motives driving them (money and corporations in Michael’s case). Toller, whom Michael started to connect with, informed the lost soul that the issue with Michael was inside himself, not with the world around him, making Michael for the first time in a while requestion his reality. Toller, however, finds himself along a similar path as Michael: he lives alone, spends a lot of time journaling his thoughts, and Cedric and others are sponsored by corporations who decide what is to be preached to people. The only difference is Toller finds a connection with Mary, also a lost soul in search for something or someone. And that’s the big lesson, at least for me. The way deradicalization happens is by good people finding time to connect with the lost souls, and bring them back from the brink. Schrader unfolds the story slowly but deliberately, so we can see all the steps of a person becoming dangerous to make it believable, and establish a sense of dread as to what will happen on the 250th anniversary of the church, where all the powerful people will be attending the ceremony. Though uncomfortable, First Reformed is a great reminder that those “evil” people you see on TV were probably once like yourself, but that you also have the power to connect with a person like that and help them.
Taxi Driver cemented Robert De Niro’s ascent to superstardom with his tour de force performance as Mr. Bickle. For Ethan Hawke, this is yet another tour de force performance from an actor most people probably only know as Denzel’s sidekick in Training Day or the desk standing Walt Whitman quoting student from Dead Poet’s Society. 3/4 Hawke films are usually spectacular. No, really! He’s got 3-4 in my top 30 films of all time. First Reformed isn’t the best movie, but it is one of the best Hawke performances I have seen. The actor slowly but subtly uses voiceover and increasingly exasperated looks to show just how far afield Reverend Toller becomes. Even during this process, Hawke’s presences makes Toller seem calm and empathetic even though we know there’s a lot going on below the surface, very similar to his Dead Poet’s character. Amanda Seyfried plays very sweetly off of Hawke, carrying the weight of Michael’s decision making with hope for the future of mankind in her baby (get it?). The revelation is Cedric the Entertainer. I always thought of him as a comedic scene stealer and that was what his career was going to be. But Cedric is excellent in First Reformed playing the preacher of the megachurch, carrying loads of his charisma but sort of hypocritically, because he has corporate interests to consider too. It’s more nuanced than I’ve seen from the actor before, and gives me hope he this opens up more acting avenues from him.
First Reformed may be remembered as a modern take on Taxi Driver, but it will definitely be remembered because of Paul Schrader and Ethan Hawke. For Schrader, this is a return to his best work since his team ups with Martin Scorcese. For Ethan Hawke, it’s another stellar performance that should continue to put him on a short list of actors people should want to use in movies, almost all the time. Richard Linklater knows, Rafi from the League knows, and now you do too.