Last night, I streamed First Reformed, which was released back in 2017. For those who haven't seen the movie, it stars Ethan Hawke as a priest who presides over a church in New York called First Reformed. He suffers from symptoms of a possible case of stomach cancer. When a young couple attends one of his church services, the husband reveals himself to be a radical environmentalist who's concerned with climate change. The couple's involvement puts his faith to the test, which makes him question his existence.

I really like this movie for a lot of reasons given that it was written and directed by Paul Schrader. Schrader is someone who I admire due to his writing, particularly his works for Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and other films. This movie was described as a return to form since he had made a couple of misfires in his filmography. It was shot in twenty days on a three and a half million dollar budget. For me, I don't think I've reacted so strongly to a movie that deals with serious issues of the times. The one thing that I admire the most about the film is the way Schrader uses the issue of climate change as a way to describe a sense of despair that is happening on Earth. It doesn't come across as preachy nor grandstanding.

I highly recommend this movie if you like Schrader's works or if you like A24 films.