First Reformed

Ernst Toller is the pastor of the First Reformed Church in Snowbridge, New York, who is struggling through a crisis of faith. The film opens with him writing down his thoughts in a journal for a year, after which he intends to destroy it. He leads a 250-year-old Dutch Reformed Church which was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. It faces dwindling attendance under Toller's leadership, which has taken the church away from its historical focus on Calvinist theology; it now serves mostly as a tourist attraction. As he tries to manage his own life issues, such as his alcoholism, Toller seeks a deeper experience through reading Roman Catholic writers (G. K. Chesterton and Thomas Merton) and mystical books (The Cloud of Unknowing). This leads him to seek support from Abundant Life, the nearby evangelical megachurch in Albany that owns First Reformed.

Toller, a former military chaplain, is also struggling with the death of his son Joseph, who was killed in the Iraq War; Toller had encouraged him to enlist. He meets Mary, who is seeking counseling for Michael, her radical-environmentalist husband. Michael further challenges Toller's beliefs: He explains that he wants Mary to get an abortion, because he does not want to bring a child into a world that will be rendered almost uninhabitable by climate change.

Mary finds a suicide vest belonging to her husband in their garage. Toller takes it, promising to counsel Michael about it. Mary and Toller discuss going to the police, but Toller feels it would dramatically worsen Michael's state. Just before their next appointment, Michael sends Toller a text message asking to meet in a local park. Toller arrives to find Michael dead of a self-inflicted shotgun wound. In accordance with Michael's will and testament, a service is held at a local toxic-waste dump, where his ashes are scattered. Meanwhile, plans are underway to celebrate the sestercentennial of First Reformed with a service attended by the mayor, the governor, and Edward Balq, one of Abundant Life's key financial backers and the owner of a polluting factory. At a meeting in a diner, Balq takes issue with Toller honoring Michael's will and deems it as a political act, and the two argue over climate change: Balq dismisses it as "complicated", but Toller sees it as a straightforward matter of Christian stewardship.

Experiencing physical pain, Toller reluctantly sees a doctor, who suspects stomach cancer and schedules tests. Toller has Michael's laptop computer, which he took after Michael's suicide to prevent the police from discovering Michael's radicalism and making trouble for Mary. He uses it to research Michael's concerns, including the materials which inspired him to make the explosive vest. One night, Mary visits Toller in the parsonage of the church, and he plays Michael's role in a nonsexual rite of physical intimacy that the couple used to perform.

Toller begs Mary not to attend the anniversary service. Preparing for his role in the ceremony, he puts on the explosive vest, and arms it. When he sees Mary entering for the ceremony, he removes the vest and instead wraps himself in barbed wire under his alb. Toller pours a glass full of drain cleaner and is about to drink it when Mary interrupts him. The two embrace, kissing passionately before the film abruptly cuts to black.

• Ethan Hawke as Pastor Ernst Toller, leader of a tiny historic church who is going through several personal crises
• Amanda Seyfried as Mary Mensana, a pregnant widow and parishioner at First Reformed
• Cedric Kyles as Pastor Joel Jeffers, megachurch pastor at the evangelical Abundant Life church
• Victoria Hill as Esther, a worker at Abundant Life who is in love with Toller
• Philip Ettinger as Michael Mensana, a radical environmentalist and anti-natalist whose suicide emboldens Toller
• Michael Gaston as Edward Balq, local industrialist and financier of Abundant Life
• Bill Hoag as John Elder, church organist at First Reformed (Performed by William E. Gati on the organ for Music Department and Soundtrack) [8]

First Reformed was filmed over the course of 20 days around Brooklyn and Queens, New York,[1] including the building and grounds of the Zion Episcopal Church in Douglaston, Queens.[9] Schrader said he was inspired by Paweł Pawlikowski's film Ida to shoot in a 4:3 aspect ratio, saying "It ... drives the vertical lines, so you get more of the human body in the frame."[10]

In September 2017, A24 acquired distribution rights to the film.[11] It was theatrically released in the United States on May 18, 2018.[12] It has also screened in a number of film festivals, among them the New Zealand International Film Festival[13] and the Melbourne International Film Festival.[14]

• Official website
• First Reformed on IMDb
• First Reformed at Metacritic
• First Reformed at Rotten Tomatoes
• First Reformed at Box Office Mojo