Movie review
May 18, 2018 · 113 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for First Reformed.
Woke representation / casting
Casting follows natural story logic in a traditional upstate New York church setting with no visible diversity quotas, identity signaling, or mismatched prominent roles.
Woke political dialogue
Dialogue and journal entries reference climate crisis, Senate denial, and church complicity with polluters, but these emerge from personal torment and existential dread rather than activist slogans or modern political framing.
Identity-driven story themes
Core focus remains faith, guilt, radicalization through despair, and spiritual crisis with zero emphasis on race, gender, sexuality, or identity politics.
Western institutional / cultural critique
The film critiques megachurch commercialization and corporate environmental harm as part of one man’s breakdown; the anti-corporate and eco-despair elements stay tied to personal pathology rather than identity-based systemic messaging.
Review
First Reformed follows Reverend Ernst Toller, a troubled pastor at a historic small church in upstate New York, as he spirals into deeper despair after counseling an environmental activist overwhelmed by climate change fears and corporate power. The story blends personal guilt, faith crisis, alcoholism, and possible terminal illness with growing awareness of ecological collapse and the church’s ties to polluters. Environmental despair and institutional critique drive much of the narrative tension, yet they stay rooted in one man’s psychological breakdown rather than organized activism or identity themes.
Woke character or canon changes
original screenplay with no source material, established characters, or historical figures altered for ideological reasons.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Minimal public complaints treating the film as woke or propagandistic; coverage stayed overwhelmingly positive with only scattered fringe viewer notes on climate pessimism.
Creator track record context
Paul Schrader has explored societal alienation across decades and explicitly criticized cancel culture and woke trends in film canon and awards; other key producers show little to no activist or identity-driven patterns.
Production
