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First Reformed is a 2017 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It stars Ethan Hawke as a minister of a small congregation in upstate New York who grapples with mounting despair brought on by tragedy, worldly concerns, and a tormented past. Amanda Seyfried, Cedric Kyles, Victoria Hill, and Philip Ettinger appear in supporting roles.
The film had its world premiere at the 74th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States on May 18, 2018, by A24. It grossed $4 million worldwide and received positive reviews from critics, who mostly praised Hawke's performance and Schrader's direction and writing. Both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute selected First Reformed as one of the top ten films of 2018, and Schrader was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the 91st Academy Awards for his work on the film. At the 24th Critics' Choice Awards, Hawke was nominated for Best Actor and Schrader won Best Original Screenplay, and, at the 34th Independent Spirit Awards, the film garnered nominations for Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, while Hawke won Best Male Lead.
After the service one Sunday, Toller is approached by Mary Mensana, a pregnant parishioner who is seeking counseling for Michael, her radical-environmentalist husband. Toller visits Michael at his home, and the two have a spirited discussion. Michael relates how he wants Mary to get an abortion because he does not want to bring a child into a world that will soon be rendered almost uninhabitable by climate change. Toller counters by telling Michael how, before he came to First Reformed, he was a military chaplain, but left the service after his son, Joseph, whom he encouraged to enlist in the military, died in the Iraq War and his wife left him. Not wanting Michael to feel responsible for taking a child from the world, as he does, Toller offers to help the young man search for the courage to overcome his despair, and they arrange to meet again.
Mary finds an under-construction explosive Explosive belt in her garage and alerts Toller. He comes over and takes it away, saying he will discuss it with Michael at their meeting, and agrees not to tell the police, as he feels that would only worsen Michael's state.
Michael sends a text message asking Toller to meet him in a local park. Toller arrives to find Michael dead of a self-inflicted shotgun wound. In accordance with Michael's will, a service is held at a local toxic-waste dump, where his ashes are scattered while an environmental protest song is sung.
Meanwhile, plans are underway to celebrate the 250th anniversary of First Reformed with a reconsecration service that will be attended by the mayor and governor. Edward Balq, one of Abundant Life's key financial backers and the CEO of BALQ Industries, has taken on the ceremony as his personal project. During a meeting with Toller and Jeffers in a diner, Balq takes issue with Michael's memorial service, which he says was a political statement that involved Abundant Life via Toller's participation. They end up arguing over climate change, Balq dismissing it as "complicated" and Toller saying it is a straightforward matter of Christian stewardship, and Balq ends the discussion by shaming Toller for his failure to help Michael.
Reluctantly, to diagnose the cause of his worsening physical pain, which may be caused by and/or the cause of his alcoholism, Toller finally sees a doctor, who suspects stomach cancer and schedules some tests. Toller begins to go through Michael's laptop computer, which he took after Michael's suicide to prevent the police from discovering anything on it that might make trouble for Mary, and finds information about the large environmental impact of Balq's company. Isolated and facing his mortality, Toller gradually becomes radicalized and completes Michael's suicide vest, which he did not destroy like he told Mary he would.
One night, a panicked Mary visits Toller in the parsonage of the church, and he offers to play Michael's role in a nonsexual rite of physical intimacy that she mentions the couple used to perform when she would get anxious. The experience leads Toller to have a vision that shifts from views of natural beauty to images of ecological devastation.
Toller firmly tells Mary not to attend the reconsecration, and she agrees. Just before the ceremony, he puts on the suicide vest and arms it, but then he sees Mary entering the church. Frantic, he removes the vest, wraps himself in a length of barbed wire he previously found in the church's cemetery, and dons his alb. He fills a glass with drain cleaner and is about to drink it, when Mary interrupts him. They kiss passionately before an abrupt cut to black.
Principal photography lasted 20 days, with a budget of $3.5 million. The film was shot around Brooklyn and Queens, New York, including the building and grounds of the Zion Episcopal Church in Douglaston.
In September 2017, A24 acquired the film's North American distribution rights. It was given a limited theatrical release in the United States on May 18, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United Kingdom on July 13, 2018. The screenplay was published by Archway Editions on January 31, 2023, with an introduction by Masha Tupitsyn.
In July 2025, it was one of the films voted for the "Readers' Choice" edition of The New York Times list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century," finishing at number 122. That same month, it ranked number 39 on Rolling Stones list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century."
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