First Reformed

First Reformed centres on Ernst Toller, a former military chaplain who now leads a small church in upstate New York. He is still grieving the death of his son, who served as a soldier, and he seeks comfort in his work. Through the church he meets Mary, a young parishioner whose husband is a committed environmental activist. The encounter with the couple unsettles Toller, and he becomes drawn into their situation, questioning his faith and his own past as he faces a crisis that threatens to overwhelm him.

Paul Schrader directed and wrote the film, which was produced by Christine Vachon, Jack Binder and Victoria Hill. It is the eighteenth of the twenty-two features Schrader has directed in chronological order, following Dog Eat Dog and preceding The Card Counter. Ethan Hawke plays Toller, with Amanda Seyfried as Mary, and the cast also includes Cedric the Entertainer, Victoria Hill, Philip Ettinger and Michael Gaston. The production involved 36 credited cast members and 52 credited crew members across Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Made for about 4 million dollars, the film took a similar amount at the worldwide box office, a modest return for a drama of this kind. Audiences have rated it 7.1 out of 10 on IMDb from roughly 67,000 votes and 7 out of 10 on TMDB from about 1,500 votes, while the film critics' rating stands at 8.3 out of 10 from 255 reviews, noticeably higher than the audience scores.