March 28, 2026

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FIRST REFORMED (2018) – AFI Movie Club

Written and directed by AFI Alum Paul Schrader (AFI Class of 1969), FIRST REFORMED (2018) was honored in the year of its release with an AFI AWARD, recognizing it as one of the art form’s most outstanding achievements. According to the official rationale, “FIRST REFORMED asks no forgiveness as it embraces the most complex issues of our day in an exalted, explosive search for redemption. Paul Schrader’s indelible influence on modern cinema continues its mighty reach with otherworldly ambition and equally ethereal achievement – bringing heart-pounding suspense to a film that asks, ‘Who can know the mind of God?’ At the center of his own tempest is Ethan Hawke, whose miraculous performance marries introspection and expression in a manner that affirms his place as one of the nation’s artistic treasures.”