First Reformed
Ethan Hawke is a former military chaplain wracked by grief over the death of his son in this intense drama from Paul Schrader (writer of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull). Nominated for the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival 2017.
Reviews & comments
Flicks, Blake Howard
flicks
Variety
pressSchrader courts respectability and leaves it in the dust, getting stoned on excess. But make no mistake: He's still one hell of a filmmaker.
The Telegraph
pressSchrader and his cast commit to the project with sharpened and unblinking seriousness, even when the going gets mesmerically weird, with violence, visions, levitations and Neil Young protest songs chanted sombrely by toxic swamps.
The Guardian
pressA deeply felt, deeply thought picture; impressive in its seriousness and often gripping in the way it frames itself as a debate and a sermon.
Screen Daily
pressThoughtful, moving, overreaching and uncompromising, "First Reformed" is a tremendously tormented work. Ethan Hawke delivers a performance full of grace and sorrow in this powerful portrait of existential and spiritual despair.
Little White Lies
pressWhat keeps us alert as viewers is not the slow disintegration of this man's faith, but the deep ambiguity about where the film's sympathies actually lie.
Hollywood Reporter
pressThere's not quite enough oomph or style in the filmmaking to make you forget about the schematic nature of the dramatic construct.
Flicks, Blake Howard
flicksVariety
pressSchrader courts respectability and leaves it in the dust, getting stoned on excess. But make no mistake: He's still one hell of a filmmaker.
The Telegraph
pressSchrader and his cast commit to the project with sharpened and unblinking seriousness, even when the going gets mesmerically weird, with violence, visions, levitations and Neil Young protest songs chanted sombrely by toxic swamps.
The Guardian
pressA deeply felt, deeply thought picture; impressive in its seriousness and often gripping in the way it frames itself as a debate and a sermon.
Screen Daily
pressThoughtful, moving, overreaching and uncompromising, "First Reformed" is a tremendously tormented work. Ethan Hawke delivers a performance full of grace and sorrow in this powerful portrait of existential and spiritual despair.
Little White Lies
pressWhat keeps us alert as viewers is not the slow disintegration of this man's faith, but the deep ambiguity about where the film's sympathies actually lie.
Hollywood Reporter
pressThere's not quite enough oomph or style in the filmmaking to make you forget about the schematic nature of the dramatic construct.
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