First Reformed (September Snubs)

Our September Snubs marathon moves into front-of-camera heartbreak for the Best Actor category on We Drink & We Watch Things. For this episode, we are diving into Paul Schrader’s stark, haunting 2018 drama, First Reformed. In one of the most glaring Academy oversights of the 2010s, Ethan Hawke delivered a career-defining, critically adored performance that swept critics' awards across the country, only to be completely shut out of an Oscar nomination. As a homage to Reverend Toller's whiskey and Pepto Bismol special, we are serving up a custom cocktail called "Sacramental Pink" - a rich blend of bourbon cream, rye whiskey, Campari, and a dash of Angostura bitters over a single block of ice. It looks the Pepto part, and is creamy but complex in a way that demands slow, quiet contemplation. This week, we unpack Ethan Hawke's extraordinary portrayal of Reverend Ernst Toller, a lonely pastor of a historic upstate New York church wrestling with physical sickness, loss of faith, and overwhelming climate dread. We dissect Schrader’s austere visual style, analyzing how the narrow 1:37:1 aspect ratio and deliberate lack of musical score trap the viewer directly inside Toller's spiraling journal entries. We also talk through Amanda Seyfried's grounding performance as Mary, debate the film's shocking, surreal final moments, and discuss why the Academy so often shies away from quiet, uncompromising psychological studies in favor of flashier biopics. If you consider Ethan Hawke one of the finest actors of his generation, or if you just want to hear us break down a modern masterwork of existential dread, pull up a pew and hit play. We are blending our deep respect for a masterpiece of quiet intensity with our usual casual banter, keeping our September Snubs series moving forward. This episode VIDEO is live on YouTube AND Spotify! Follow us on Instagram to get ep sneak peaks and find out what's coming up. DM us what you want to hear about next! Interested in what we're watching off the pod? Check out Mackenzie or Lemar's Letterboxd!