Review of First Reformed (2018) by Mmadnessgames — 01 Feb 2019

I don't like being manipulated by films with political agendas and I don't like films that portray the church poorly.

First Reformed doesn't really do either of these things. As the main character in the film says: climate change isn't political... As for the religious side of things, the church is portrayed as a mixed bag (which it is).

My main problem with the film is the ending. When the protagonist starts flirting with the idea of blowing up the church with a suicide vest, I lost interest.

Schrader's writing is a little sophomoric. He's not great at writing dialogue, so his films often have massive amounts of monologues. And, there's often over the top violence.

Bringing out the Dead is a fun film, but it's crazy over the top. Taxi Driver is about a twelve year old prostitute.

Most of his films play these "powerful" cinematic cards.

First Reformed would have been better without the barbed wire and the explosives.

It didn't make sense - to me - why the protagonist would want to kill a church full of people. They didn't establish it properly and they didn't explain it.

Also, I could have done without the super weird double plank levitation scene.

Other than all that, it's an interesting film.