Movie Endings Explained – First Reformed (video)

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Writer/director Paul Schrader crafted an incredibly captivating film last year in FIRST REFORMED, starring Ethan Hawke and Amanda Seyfried. The slow burning drama follows Reverend Ernst Toller (Hawke) as he wrestles with doubt, despair and grief, as his First Reformed church approaches its 250th anniversary celebration. While FIRST REFORMED plays out with a gritty realism, the closing minutes of the film recall Schrader's TAXI DRIVER as things take an alarmingly drastic turn, and the movie ends on a rather ambiguous note. So what did it all mean? And what does Paul Schrader himself have to say about the film's much talked about finale? All this and more are discussed in this edition of Movie Endings Explained!