Yes. Paul Schrader's "First Reformed" is a bright, shiny, snarling beast of a movie. There are resounding, deafening echoes of Robert Bresson's "Diary of a Country Priest" and Martin Scorcese's (Shrader wrote the script) "Taxi Driver."
So yes. A major work. It's a hard slog. Stony. Difficult. Forces you step by step into a world of despair. Oh yes, it's our world today. You may hate this movie. It is not light entertainment. I didn't hate it. I think it's brilliant. Bitter medicine. Essential.
The movie leaves one with essential, real world, of the moment questions: "How to live in the world today? How to see clearly? How to live honestly? How to live with both despair and hope in your head at all times?"
The answer I am left with? Do the hard, good work. Always, even if it sometimes feels impossible.
