--- title: Ethan Hawke Makes "First Reformed" Worth Watching: Review description: Ethan Hawke plays Toller, an ex–military chaplain reckoning with a painful past who has an existential crisis, TIME's movie critic writes. canonical: https://time.com/5280438/first-reformed-movie-review/ author: Stephanie Zacharek article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-17T11:00:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:17:54.589Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Ethan Hawke Endures an Existential Crisis Worth Watching in ‘First Reformed’ og:description: But he offers a shred of hope, TIME’s movie reviewer writes og:url: https://time.com/5280438/first-reformed-movie-review/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe273f2a63b72fad/69893090fb4eac0e2d896a02/first-reformed-ethan-hawke.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Ethan Hawke First Reformed og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ethan Hawke Endures an Existential Crisis Worth Watching in ‘First Reformed’ twitter:description: But he offers a shred of hope, TIME’s movie reviewer writes twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe273f2a63b72fad/69893090fb4eac0e2d896a02/first-reformed-ethan-hawke.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ethan Hawke Endures an Existential Crisis Worth Watching in _First Reformed_ > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Stephanie Zacharek](https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Film Critic May 17, 2018 11:00 AM UTC  Ethan Hawke as Toller in First Reformed Ethan Hawke as Toller in First ReformedA24  by [Stephanie Zacharek](https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Film Critic May 17, 2018 11:00 AM UTC Feeling down about dying polar bears, deforestation and the state of the world in general? Paul Schrader’s beautiful, bruising _First Reformed_ is the movie for you. Ethan Hawke is superb as Toller, an ex–military chaplain reckoning with a painful past. He’s been made the pastor of a tiny, historic church in upstate New York, which should be a balm for him. But even though he spends his days trying hard to do the Lord’s work – extending particular kindness to an anxious young wife and mother-to-be, played with tremulous sensitivity by Amanda Seyfried – his nights become intense sessions of journal keeping and destructive drinking. With First Reformed, Schrader – famously, the writer of _Taxi Driver_, though as a director he’s given us his share of terrific, sometimes underappreciated pictures like _Forever Mine_ and _Patty Hearst –_ has made a fine existential-crisis movie. And for all its serious intent, it isn’t torture to watch. Part of the movie’s understated triumph lies in its casting: Hawke is an actor who clearly cares, and worries, a lot–the tree of life is practically etched into his forehead. As the hyperconscientious Toller, he conveys both the selfishness and the true anguish of people who just can’t let go of their own pain. But he also offers a shred of hope in the idea that in the end, caring too much might be just the thing that saves us. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5280438/first-reformed-movie-review/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5280438/first-reformed-movie-review/"},"headline":"Ethan Hawke Endures an Existential Crisis Worth Watching in First Reformed","datePublished":"2018-05-17T11:00:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:17:54.589Z","description":"Ethan Hawke plays Toller, an ex–military chaplain reckoning with a painful past who has an existential crisis, TIME's movie critic writes.","url":"https://time.com/5280438/first-reformed-movie-review/","keywords":["movies","ethan hawke"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe273f2a63b72fad/69893090fb4eac0e2d896a02/first-reformed-ethan-hawke.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Stephanie Zacharek","jobTitle":"Film Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/stephanie-zacharek/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe273f2a63b72fad/69893090fb4eac0e2d896a02/first-reformed-ethan-hawke.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ethan Hawke First Reformed","caption":"Ethan Hawke in First Reformed","creditText":"A24","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5280438/first-reformed-movie-review/","name":"Ethan Hawke Endures an Existential Crisis Worth Watching in First Reformed"}}]}] ```