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First Reformed

2017

Paul Schrader

Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried, Cedric the Entertainer, Michael Gaston ...

6.4

6,612

Drama An ex-military chaplain (Ethan Hawke) is wrecked by grief over the death of his son in Iraq. Amanda Seyfried plays a member of his church whose husband, a radical environmentalist, commits suicide, setting the plot in motion.

	Media	Author	Review
		Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"Schrader offers one of the year's best movies (...) Ethan Hawke hitting a new career peak-who is politically awakened by an eco-activist and a new kind of love (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"
		A. O. Scott The New York Times	"Schrader (...) is 71, and has had a long and varied career, but 'First Reformed' nonetheless feels like a fresh discovery. More than that: an epiphany."
		Richard Brody The New Yorker	"It’s a fierce film; Schrader, one of the crucial creators of the modern cinema (...) seems to have made it in a state of anger, passion, pain, mourning, and desire"
		Ann Hornaday The Washington Post	"A mesmerizingly austere drama (…) [It] feels like the movie Paul Schrader was put on this planet to make (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"
		Owen Gleiberman Variety	"A grindhouse art film you can't stop watching (...) [Hawke] takes the role of Toller (...) and makes it convincing (...) [Schrader] is still one hell of a filmmaker."
		Todd McCarthy The Hollywood Reporter	"It's his most effective work as a director since 'Auto Focus 15' (...) There's not quite enough oomph or style in the filmmaking to make you forget about the schematic nature of the dramatic construct"
		Peter Howell Toronto Star	"Schrader’s best film in two decades (…) [He] is a master of austere screen stories of existential crisis, which he’s deepened here with his genuine concerns about environmental ruin (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"
		Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times	"An inescapably memorable and at times almost unbearably sorrowful piece of work (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"
		Alonso Duralde The Wrap	"[Hawke] is never less than astonishing to watch (...) [It] is the sort of stimulating work that a writer-director of a certain age can deliver when he returns to his creative sweet spot; rejoice, Schrader fans, rejoice"
		Colin Covert Minneapolis Star Tribune	"A miracle in its own regard, the rare type of film that leaves us with questions left to answer and for many, a desire to dig into it deeper through a second viewing (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"
		Eric Kohn IndieWire	"Hawke provides a compelling anchor for Schrader's surprisingly effective religious-themed film (...) A fascinating meditation on inner turmoil in which doing the right thing can lead down many wrong directions."
		Xan Brooks The Guardian	"Paul Schrader fans won’t find his new drama a revelation – but Hawke fills the flawed holy man template well (...) 'First Reformed' is a deeply felt, deeply thought picture (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Tim Grierson Screendaily	"Thoughtful, moving, overreaching and uncompromising (...) 'First Reformed' belongs to Hawke’s impassioned, agonized portrayal"

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