13 Movies That Have Little Hope For Humanity

3. First Reformed

Paul Schrader's scintillating drama might be 2018's feel-bad movie to beat, an almost unbearably solemn film about an alcoholic, ailing Protestant minister, Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke), who finds himself at an existential crossroads.

Enrst is struggling to cope with the death of his soldier son, while also dealing with his centuries-old church being propped up by the financial support of a morally dubious megachurch, and the suicide of a young environmental activist, Michael (Philip Ettinger), he was counselling.

Unshakably affected by Michael's persuasive argument that climate change is an inevitable, irreversible result of human greed, Ernst clings to the cause as he suspects he may be suffering from stomach cancer. Eventually, he plots to wear Michael's unused suicide vest to blow the church to smithereens.

A powerful political statement about conservatism, or merely the act of a desperate, possibly dying man pressed to find a worthy cause to cling to? Either way, it paints a horrible picture of present humanity and the world we're leaving future humans to inherit.

How It Ends: The ambiguous final scene sees Ernst remove the suicide vest after Michael's wife, Mary (Amanda Seyfried), shows up at the church. He then wraps himself in barbed wire and prepares to commit suicide by drinking bleach, but Mary runs into the room and the two passionately kiss as the film ends.

It's been fiercely debated as to whether or not this moment actually happened or it's merely a death dream in Ernst's head. Either way, the big picture result is basically unchanged: big business will send the Earth to an early grave, because people are trash and even the most dedicated individuals are powerless to stop it.