Paul Schrader’s “Man in a Room” Trilogy

Filmmaker Paul Schrader is renowned for taking us to the dingiest of places and introducing us to the gloomiest of people.

By vicariously walking in the shoes of the taxi driver, raging middleweight boxer, and LA gigolo, we are challenged to sympathize with these pitiful characters. If anything, they are all seeking salvation.

Because they are Paul Schrader’s characters, they likely won’t find it.

Schrader’s “Man in a Room Trilogy” consists of First Reformed (2017), The Card Counter (2021), and Master Gardener (2022). All three center on themes of isolation, self-redemption, and the internal struggles of men stuck in a room with their thoughts.

Dependably not for everyone but entrancing nonetheless, these movies visit dark places so we don’t have to.

First Reformed (2017) ****

Ethan Hawke plays a pastor of a small Protestant church in Albany, New York, who unravels into madness during his encounters with an unstable environmental activist and his pregnant wife (Amanda Seyfried).

Reminiscent of Paul Schrader’s Calvinistic morality obsession in his Taxi Driver script, this is actually Schrader’s life work at face value—no guard, nakedly vulnerable, and measured not to judge but empathize. Ethan Hawke throws away self preservation to become Schrader’s mark, innocence, and victim of his own stigmata. Other than his typical, frustratingly ambiguous ending, Schrader captures an otherworldliness that goes against what could have been a languid script. One of my favorites of 2017, no matter how challenging to watch.

The Card Counter (2021) ***1/2

The Card Counter gradually unveils the details behind one man running away from the past while another man face plants right into it. The seedy Biloxi casino scene is less about poker and more about seeking redemption from an unforgivable history involving insurmountable torture. When William (Oscar Isaac) meets Cirk (Tye Sheridan)—a young man with a plan for revenge on a military figure who ruined his father’s life—he is given an opportunity to be a savior, and as we all know, playing God doesn’t end well.

The interaction between these two men is cold and uncomfortable, but their codependency gets them closer to an inkling of closure.

The ending is a rough one, but sometimes, pain relieves pain.

Master Gardner (2022) ***

Although it is the weakest of the trilogy, I have a soft spot for this slow-burn focus on an antihero (Joel Edgerton) grappling with his brutal history through stringent routine.

In this case, the routine is gardening, horticulture, and the pleasure of gunfire. This ain’t A History of Violence (2005), but when there’s any anticipation of one’s shady past to brew over, you stay gripped.

The dialogue is less fluid in this one—more profiled, even robotic. Through its sterile exposition and icy characters (good to see Sigourney Weaver again) is a simplistic plot that teaches you how to acquire its taste. Unlike the previous two entries in this trilogy, Master Gardener supplies an ending with hope and without attachment to a darker past.

Have you seen any of these movies?

Is there light at the end of the tunnel, or does the tunnel keep going?

Thank you for reading,

RB