Review of First Reformed (2018) by Bob K — 22 Jun 2018

3/5.

Paul Schrader has been stewing over Travis Bickle's fate for 40 years it seems. He came up with other possible endings for Taxi Driver, and applied them to Rev. Toller. I mean "them" literally, because the ending we see is clearly not the actual outcome for Rev Toller, but some kind of dream. The audience is meant to guess at his true fate. I don't mind ambiguous endings, provided they're not just covering up a deficient screenplay. If a straightforward ending had been filmed (and maybe it was, and will be on the DVD) it may have seemed anticlimactic.

The film asks if despair can be contagious. Clearly it is, if the new victim is susceptible, like an immuno-deficient patient. Rev Toller has a tragic backstory, and should not be counseling anyone, especially an environment extremist with practical knowledge of explosives. Schrader shares the climatic worries of Michael, who comes to a grisly end, giving Toller some unpleasant ideas about following through with his unfinished plans. After Toller completely embraces Michael's agenda, he experiences a bizarre dream sequence with Michael's partner Mary, like an inferior deleted scene from Koyannisqatsi. It was almost embarrassing to watch.

I'm giving this an overall thumbs up, because I thought Ethan Hawke and Cedric Kyles (the Entertainer) were remarkably good. But I also think Toller's problems, medical and emotional, could have been alleviated greatly by upgrading the quality of whiskey he was drinking heavily.