First Reformed Movie Review: Ethan Hawke wrestles with faith and despair in Paul Schrader's latest triumph
By Andrea Thompson
Small details loom large from the first claustrophobic shot of a seemingly tiny church in First Reformed, which has Paul Schrader, the scribe of iconic films Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, returning to write and direct another dark vision of a solitary man wrestling with his faith and self-destructive impulses. And that first shot, which so compresses the small building that is the whole world to one lonely priest, is our first step into his bleak worldview.
