FIRST REFORMED: How Love Can Comfort in a Dying World
A24The world is dying. This is a non-negotiable fact unless you choose to look away from facts that have become as common knowledge as the sky being blue. Humans are having a clear and at this point irreversible effect on the Earth that is quickly leading to the mass extinction of life as we know it. Though this crisis can lead some to feel powerless - as logistically there is only so much one individual can do lacking major money and power - it is a fact that has to be digested and lived with. Clearly, this is a battle Paul Schrader has felt the repercussions of, as his ultimate conclusion and a powerful meditation on the subject is found in First Reformed.
Within First Reformed, Pastor Ernst Toller's (Ethan Hawke) life is forever changed as he meets Michael (Philip Ettinger). Michael has dedicated his life to radical environmentalism and, as his wife Mary (Amanda Seyfried) has become pregnant, is feeling a major moral dilemma in bringing a child into such a doomed world. This interaction sends Pastor Toller into a depressive spiral as he feels morally obliged to do something. However, he is powerless both in his position against the larger world around him and the Abundant Life megachurch, which owns Toller’s parish and is funded by the owner of a major polluting factory.
From a plot alone, the emotions found within First Reformed are clearly complex. Toller is exposed to the truth of the world around him and feels an existential dread because of how powerless he is against these threats. Not only does he struggle to find a way to actively fight against the threats to the world, but he has no way to find separation from them. Simply living and supporting the system therefore validates its toxic behavior. Toller is trapped as he is working for what is supposed to be a morally sound cause that also is protecting and turning a blind eye towards the destruction they are causing. There is nothing he can do to change this or escape this leaving him with little to no options on how to move forward.
Within this, First Reformed finds one of its most powerful and important points: the systematic causes of the destruction of the Earth. Humans naturally want to fix the mistakes they make and this can be seen with the issue of pollution. Small things like the switch to paper straws over plastic have been touted as society has become more aware and responsible for their footprint on the Earth, but largely these measures actually do very little. Yes - anything helps, but the truth is that just 100 companies are responsible for over 71% of global pollution! Even if the general public completely stopped every single one of their bad polluting habits, climate deterioration would continue at devastating rates. As seen within First Reformed, money and profit have become the catalysts for this global destruction with businesses willing to kill the Earth rather than make actual improvement to save humanity.
Pastor Toller is aware of this and needs to find an outlet. Reaching back to his moral debate with Michael who saw the only option for change to be destruction of the human race, Toller creates a plan for a brash act of violence where he will blow himself up along with the head figures of the church and this business during the church's 250th-anniversary celebration. Toller sees no outlet for change or the saving of humanity and sees this as the only option to actually stop the sins of humanity. Toller decides to act like a martyr on the side of planet earth but on the day of the celebration, Toller doesn't go through with this. Right before he sets off to commit this horrible act, he is stopped by Mary who embraces him and comforts him, showing him a new path for survival.
Throughout the film, both Toller and Mary had found a connection with each other and this is where the film finds its final message. First Reformed isn't about how to stop the destruction of the Earth or even delay it, First Reformed is instead a message on how to accept it, which can be achieved through love. Even if Toller did go through with this plan of violence, no real progress would be made within this fight for the environment. Other companies would continue to pollute the Earth and humanity would continue its plunge into global catastrophe. There is nothing Toller can do to make any progress in this so serving as a martyr and killing not just himself but the one person he loves would ultimately be a meaningless act of hatred. Instead, First Reformed gives a message to find comfort in the final days of humanity which remain. Rather than tormenting oneself with an impossible challenge or the moral complexities of what the right thing to do is, the film shows that the one true escape is acceptance and finding the good that is left. This might not be fair and can leave a sense of shame in oneself as others are willing to give their lives, but it is the only option other than self-destruction as Michael experienced when he killed himself due to the powerless stance he held within this conflict.
Although the message can be challenging and criticized for being cynical and largely unhelpful, First Reformed makes a claim that the best thing any individual can do is to simply find someone they love and enjoy the moments that remain before everything is over. Love might not solve the issue, but it will give a purpose and comfort as things go bad. This comfort is literally seen visually within the film when both Toller and Mary get transported into a stunning portrait of the natural world as they physically touch and focus on each other, letting the real world around them fade into an image of beauty they have created. This is the greatest form of impact any individual reasonably can make with the only hope that one realistically can have is that there will be another life after this to find an eternity in happiness. Until that is found, hold those you can close and let the beauty of love carry you to that moment, even as the world around you collapses due to others incompetence that you simply don't have the ability to change.
