Handlung

A minister of a small congregation in upstate New York grapples with mounting despair brought on by tragedy, worldly concerns and a tormented past.

The pastor (Ethan Hawke) of a small church in New York with dwindling attendance gets a call from a pregnant parishioner (Amanda Seyfried) begging for help with her extremely radical husband. After getting involved, the pastor loses control of every aspect of his life.

A lonely and depressed pastor of a small historical church, Ernst, suffers from extreme PTSD and guilt after a parishioner's spouse takes his own life. This suicide is a trigger point for Ernst as it brings back painful and regretful memories of his own son. He soon spirals out of control.

Reverend Ernst Toller of the First Reformed Church in Snowbridge, New York is writing down his thoughts in a journal for a year, after which he intends to destroy it. First Reformed, a 250-year-old Dutch Reformed Church, faces dwindling attendance under Toller's leadership, which has taken the church in a new direction and away from its historical focus on Reformed theology. In trying to manage his own life issues, Toller seeks a deeper experience through reading Roman Catholic (Thomas Merton and G.K. Chesterton) and mystical books (The Cloud of Unknowing). This new spiritual direction leads him to seek support from a nearby charismatic megachurch, Abundant Life, which owns the historical landmark, and previous stop on the Underground Railroad.

Reverend Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is a solitary, middle-aged parish pastor at a small Dutch Reform church in upstate New York on the cusp of celebrating its 250th anniversary. Once a stop on the Underground Railroad, the church is now a tourist attraction catering to a dwindling congregation, eclipsed by its nearby parent church, Abundant Life, with its state-of-the-art facilities and 5,000-strong flock. When a pregnant parishioner (Amanda Seyfried) asks Reverend Toller to counsel her husband, a radical environmentalist, the clergyman finds himself plunged into his own tormented past, and equally despairing future, until he finds redemption in an act of grandiose violence.

Ernst Toller is the pastor of the First Reformed Church in Snowbridge, New York, who is struggling with a crisis of faith. The film opens with him writing down his thoughts in a journal, which he plans to keep for a year, and then destroy. He leads a 250-year-old Dutch Reformed Church which was once a stop on the Underground Railroad. It faces dwindling attendance under Toller's leadership, which has taken the church away from its historical focus on Calvinist theology; it now serves mostly as a tourist attraction. Toller, a former military chaplain, is also struggling with the death of his son Joseph, who was killed in the Iraq War, and with alcoholism. Toller seeks a deeper spiritual understanding through reading Roman Catholic writers (G. K. Chesterton and Thomas Merton) and mystical books (The Cloud of Unknowing). This leads him to seek support from Abundant Life, the evangelical megachurch in Albany that owns First Reformed.

He is approached by Mary, who is seeking counseling for Michael, her radical-environmentalist husband. Michael further challenges Toller's beliefs: he explains that he wants Mary to get an abortion, because he does not want to bring a child into a world that will be rendered almost uninhabitable by climate change. Mary finds a suicide vest belonging to her husband in their garage. Toller takes it, promising to counsel Michael about it. Mary and Toller discuss going to the police, but Toller feels it would worsen Michael's state. Just before their next appointment, Michael sends Toller a text message asking to meet in a local park. Toller arrives to find Michael dead of a self-inflicted shotgun wound. In accordance with Michael's will and testament, a service is held at a local toxic-waste dump, where his ashes are scattered.

Meanwhile, plans are underway to celebrate the 250th anniversary of First Reformed with a service attended by the mayor, the governor, and Edward Balq, one of Abundant Life's key financial backers and the owner of a polluting factory. At a meeting in a diner, Balq takes issue with Toller honoring Michael's will and deems it a political act, and the two argue over climate change: Balq dismisses it as "complicated", but Toller sees it as a straightforward matter of Christian stewardship.

Experiencing physical pain, Toller reluctantly sees a doctor, who suspects stomach cancer and schedules some tests. Toller has Michael's laptop computer, which he took after Michael's suicide to prevent the police from discovering Michael's radicalism and making trouble for Mary. He uses it to research Michael's concerns, including the materials on Balq's factory which inspired him to make the explosive vest. One night, Mary visits Toller in the parsonage of the church, and he plays Michael's role in a nonsexual rite of physical intimacy that the couple used to perform.

Toller begs Mary not to attend the anniversary service. Preparing for his role in the ceremony, he puts on the explosive vest, and arms it. When he sees Mary entering for the ceremony, he removes the vest and instead wraps himself in barbed wire under his alb. Toller pours a glass full of drain cleaner and is about to drink it when Mary interrupts him. The two embrace, kissing passionately before the film abruptly cuts to black. (from Wikipedia)