Reverend Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is the pastor of a small church in upstate New York. As the church prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary, a pregnant parishioner (Amanda Seyfried) asks the Reverend to counsel her husband, a radical environmentalist, the clergyman finds himself dealing with the despair from his past while trying to help another find the hope in their future.
This was one film I had been looking forward to seeing. Featured at this year’s Phoenix Film Festival, I was disappointed that I missed it then. Although I’m not a huge Ethan Hawke fan, this was probably one of the best films I’ve seen this year and the best thing I’ve seen Ethan in in a long while.
This film has dialog that was so thought provoking as it spread itself out in the areas of religion & politics and Hawke masterfully navigates the emotions of this character to make it a truly believable performance.
With the help of an outstanding supporting cast like Seyfried and Cedric The Entertainer, who was surprisingly great, and led by legendary director Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull), First Reformed is A Must See Movie that is playing exclusively this weekend at the Harkins Camelview at Fashion Square Mall in Scottsdale.