Ernst Toller is the pastor of the First Reformed Church in Snowbridge, New York, who is struggling with a crisis of faith. The film opens with him writing down his thoughts in a journal, which he plans to keep for a year, and then destroy.
The church is a 250-year-old Dutch Reformed Church and was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. It faces dwindling attendance, so the church has moved away from its historical focus on Calvinist theology and now serves mostly as a tourist attraction. Toller, a former military chaplain, is struggling with alcoholism and the death of his son Joseph, who was killed in the Iraq War. Toller seeks a deeper spiritual understanding through reading Roman Catholic writers (G. K. Chesterton and Thomas Merton) and mystical books (The Cloud of Unknowing). This leads him to seek support from Abundant Life, the evangelical megachurch in Albany that owns First Reformed.
MPAA Rating: | R |
Genre: | Drama, Thriller, Mystery |
Country: | United States, United Kingdom, Australia |
Directed By: | Paul Schrader |
Written By: | Paul Schrader |
Cast: | Ethan Hawke, Frank Rodriguez, Frankie Verroca, Van Hansis, Amanda Seyfried, Krystina Alabado, Philip Ettinger, Gary Lee Mahmoud, Kristin Villanueva, Michael Gaston, Cedric The Entertainer, Bill Hoag, Ronald Peet, Victoria Hill, Satchel Bell |
In Theaters: | Jun 22, 2018 |
Runtime: | 1 hour 48 minutes |
Production: | Killer Films, Fibonacci Films, Arclight Films |
Budget: | $3,500,000 |
Box Office: | $3,448,256 |
Available On: | Amazon, Itunes, Vudu |
Read More On: | Wikipedia |