This is an intelligent and interesting drama that fails on one point... to be entertaining. It is sombre and dark like a bad 40's melodrama with overtones of a stark Ingmar Bergman film. There are some important points made around global warming , politics and religion in today's society but these are lost in the overall wordy dullness of the plot.Schrader has proven that he is a good director.. and at times even great but here although his framing is almost perfect he allows the influences / respect of other directors and films to have too much impact. Ethan Hawkes gives a strong performance in a demanding role but as he is in almost every scene no one else gets a look in.
Review of First Reformed
