First Reformed was originally released on August 31, 2017, at the Venice Film Festival. After massive success at every festival at which it was shown, production company A24 bought the rights to release it in U.S. theaters. The first trailer for the June 22nd release has emerged, and it is easy to see why this film is such a hot commodity.
We are greeted with the daunting clank of a church bell ringing along with a cryptic narrative from Reverend Toller played by Ethan Hawke. He explains that he will write about his daily life in diary, but that diary will be destroyed one year from the date he began. Later, we meet Mary (Amanda Seyfried), a grieving and terrified widow who has called upon Toller after her late husband’s extreme obsession with radical environmentalism becomes horrifyingly potent after the discovery of a bomb found connected to clothes.
The rest of the trailer is filled with suspenseful scenes depicting Toller’s infidelities, fears, and desperate attempts to hold onto his beliefs all while his troubled past comes back to haunt him, and his interest in Mary’s husband’s obsessions grow more worrisome to both the viewer and surrounding characters.
Owen Gleiberman, a film critic for Variety, said this about his viewing experience: “…the more over the top it gets, the more you can’t stop watching.”
Although the trailer leaves a lot to the imagination of the viewer, it is apparent that this film will be something to watch out for. Check out the trailer below.
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