First Reformed

*9 * “Will God forgive us for what we're doing to his creation?” First Reformed is a surgical exploration of strained faith and a gradual succumbing to despair performed brilliantly and subtlety by Ethan Hawke. It’s a small film, a small cast, few locations with little to no score. It’s a story intent on remaining minimally human, one man in a conflict that reaches beyond him in corporations and higher ladder that wave him around. His frustration isn’t just with faith, it’s with institution. The film employs rich religious rhetoric and dialogue rooted in argumentative theology in order to explore character relationships and transferring ideologies.  Toller begins to adopt Micheal’s despair as the movie goes on, his faith straining at the weight of the world’s ecological crisis, conflicting world views and belief into a downwards slope of extremism, and a radical way of dealing your idea of justice. This is when the movie’s silence is filled with an ominous score, characterizing Toller’s dark turn. His only light is Mary, and ultimately she prevails through his despaired psyche and prevents his extremism. First Reformed is a warning and mirror into our world, reflecting real life through the art of storytelling and balancing a crisis of faith with the issues of our world. “A life without despair is a life without hope. Holding these two ideas in our head is life itself.”