First Reformed (2018)

Andrews calls it Schrader's best film in decades and a zinger fusing radical-gothic and gonzo-Christian modes. He singles out the visionary hallucinatory sequence and bold ending for particular admiration.

Schrader returns to spiritual territory with a personal, despairing portrait of a pastor confronting capitalism, climate crisis and his own faith. Hawke delivers a mesmerising career-best performance in this austere, bold climax that divides but impresses.

The critic hails the film as a culmination of Schrader’s career and a paean to slow cinema referencing Ozu, Bresson, and Dreyer. It is praised for its controlled bleakness, geometric style, and renewed faith in cinema amid themes of spirituality and environmental despair.

The film marks a blistering return to form for Schrader, blending character study, expressionism and exploitation elements into an uncompromising meditation on faith and doubt in the modern world. Ethan Hawke delivers a career-highlight performance as the tormented priest.

The bracing film resurrects Schrader’s career with a superb Ethan Hawke performance as a pastor confronting climate despair and church hypocrisy. It begins in quiet introspection and builds to a crescendo of political rage in an exquisite yet blunt work.

Schrader pours his obsessions into a grindhouse art film blending Bresson austerity with pulp violence, following a reverend tempted by suicide bombing. It is a testament to the director’s style—programmatic yet fascinating, with an over-the-top climax that keeps viewers hooked.

A restrained, powerful return to form for Schrader, with Hawke excellent as a thoughtful, self-medicating pastor questioning his conscience and the church amid environmental and personal crises. Masterly control and long fixed-camera scenes build to a late tonal shift hinting at earlier triumphs.

Thoughtful, moving and uncompromising, Schrader’s tormented character study belongs to Hawke’s impassioned, agonised portrayal of a minister grappling with faith, environmental concerns and personal despair. It recalls Taxi Driver and Light Sleeper but risks not always paying off.

Bradshaw calls it a powerful, austerely made drama of spiritual ordeal building to apocalypse. He singles out Ethan Hawke's unflinching conviction as the tormented priest for particular praise while noting the ending feels preposterous.

Collin hails it as Schrader's best film in decades, a ferocious spiritual thriller recapturing end-times desolation. He singles out Hawke's superb performance in a Bressonian holy loner role and the film's timely critique of religion and business.

Schrader delivers his best work in two decades with this austere yet intense study of one man's spiritual crisis and an apocalyptic vision of humanity's fate. The contemplative drama gains power from its stark compositions and shifts into surprising intensity.

The film centers on a pastor drawn into ecoterrorism amid themes of faith, environmental doom, and a pregnant parishioner. It blends belief in God and saving the world in a dark, present-day drama with apocalyptic undertones.

Schrader returns to familiar ground with a meditative tale of a pastor racked by guilt and existential crisis, echoing his earlier work like Taxi Driver. The sombre Bresson-like mode appeals to superfans but feels like dutiful old-school Schrader with a telegraphed unraveling of faith.

The critic praises the film as a taut, meditative work about the struggle for faith and grace amid modern despair and environmental crisis. Schrader's direction creates an otherworldly stillness while engaging urgently with contemporary issues.

The critic calls it Schrader’s most effective work as a director since Auto Focus but a direly bleak affair. It is praised for its intellectual seriousness and Hawke’s committed performance but faulted for being schematic with insufficient visual dynamism.

The critic sees the film as a fresh discovery and epiphany for Schrader, a rigorous portrait of a soul in torment. It achieves uncanny directness through influences from Bresson and Dreyer while centering on a minister's unraveling in upstate New York.

The critic admires the film’s austere examination of faith and morality as the result of Schrader entering a bold stage in his career. It is praised for Hawke’s feverish commitment and its rigorous style despite some elements bordering on the ludicrous.

Schrader crafts a modern masterpiece and essential parable about the church's role in addressing moral and political crises in the present day. It powerfully challenges viewers through the internal journey of a tormented priest grappling with faith and injustice.

The film marks a strong return to form for Schrader, anchored by a career-best Ethan Hawke performance as a priest in crisis. It explores faith, environmental crisis, and corporate influence on the church through a gripping, ambiguous narrative.

The critic calls the film a passionate, intelligent and audacious study that channels Bresson and Bergman while addressing today's environmental crises through a priest's deepening despair. Schrader's precise direction and the gripping final act are highlighted as masterful.

The critic calls it a profound, powerful, and deeply disturbing examination of broken faith reconstructed with madness and despair. Hawke's lead performance is singled out as Oscar-worthy for its subtlety and conviction.

The review hails the film as Schrader's sharpest in years and Hawke's finest work, lauding the intense exploration of faith, loss, and redemption through an austere, unadorned style. Hawke's performance as the tormented pastor is singled out for its profound depth and haunting nuance.

Schrader delivers a career-defining work that distills a lifetime of themes into a stark, rigorous meditation on faith, sin, and redemption. It is a profound, hopeful statement on devotion and moral hypocrisy, enhanced by a haunting score and strong performances.

The critic hails it as one of the best films of the year and some of Schrader's finest work, a brilliant morality play mixing austerity with audacity. Hawke's subtle, controlled performance as the tormented priest is singled out for praise.