--- description: Ethan Hawke plays Toller, an ex–military chaplain reckoning with a painful past who has an existential crisis, TIME's movie critic writes. title: Ethan Hawke Endures an Existential Crisis Worth Watching in ‘First Reformed’ 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 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ethan Hawke Endures an Existential Crisis Worth Watching in _First Reformed_  by [Stephanie Zacharek](/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Film Critic May 17, 2018 11:00 AM CUT  Ethan Hawke as Toller in First Reformed Ethan Hawke as Toller in First ReformedA24  by [Stephanie Zacharek](/author/stephanie-zacharek/)  ## Stephanie Zacharek Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Film Critic May 17, 2018 11:00 AM CUT 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. Ethan Hawke Makes "First Reformed" Worth Watching: Review ```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"}}]}] ```