| Director | Paul Schrader |
|---|---|
| Budget | $3.5 million |
| Box office | $4 million |
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. He leads a 250-year-old Dutch Reformed Church that was a stop on the Underground Railroad; it faces dwindling attendance under Toller's leadership, which has taken the church in a new direction away from its historical focus on Reformed theology. It serves mostly as a tourist attraction. In trying to manage his problems, such as alcoholism, Toller reads Catholic writings (G. K. Chesterton, Thomas Merton and The Cloud of Unknowing). This new spiritual direction leads him to seek support from a nearby charismatic megachurch, Abundant Life, which owns First Reformed.
A former military chaplain, Toller is also struggling with the death of his son, who was killed in the Iraq War; Toller had encouraged him to enlist. He meets Mary, who is seeking counseling for her radical-environmentalist husband, Michael. Michael says he wants Mary, who is 20 weeks pregnant, 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 that would dramatically 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 gunshot. 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 First Reformed's semiquincentennial with a service attended by the mayor, governor, and a notable industrialist, Edward Balq, a major financial backer of Abundant Life. At a meeting in a diner, Toller argues with Balq over climate change after Balq says Michael's memorial service was a political act. Balq calls climate change "complicated", but Toller sees it as a straightforward matter of Christian stewardship.
Experiencing various ailments, Toller reluctantly sees a doctor, who suspects stomach cancer and schedules tests. Using Michael's laptop, which he took after his suicide to prevent the police from discovering his radicalism and making trouble for Mary, Toller researches Michael's concerns, including what inspired him to make the suicide vest. One night, Mary visits Toller at the church's parsonage, and he plays Michael's role in a nonsexual rite of physical intimacy that she and Michael used to perform, "The Magical Mystery Tour", in which Mary lay atop him and they shared each other's breath.
Toller begs Mary not to attend the anniversary service. Preparing for his role in the ceremony, he puts on the vest and arms it. When he sees Mary enter the church, he removes the vest and instead wraps himself in barbed wire under his alb. He pours a glass full of chemical drain cleaner and is about to drink it when Mary interrupts him. The two embrace, kissing passionately.