Opening in theaters on December 25 is ‘The Testament of Ann Lee,’ directed and co-written by Mona Fastvold and starring Amanda Seyfried, Lewis Pullman, Thomasin McKenzie, Christopher Abbott, Stacy Martin, Scott Handy, Matthew Beard, Viola Prettejohn and Tim Blake Nelson.
YhDPthnzD4n5NVnUMkoNr5Related Article: Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried Starring in Novel Adaptation ‘The Housemaid’
Initial Thoughts
You probably won’t see another movie like ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ this awards season or even this year. It’s a strange, often surreal, and numinous historical drama that’s frequently harrowing yet at times extremely moving. It’s also a musical of sorts, although many of the numbers are based on religious hymns and wouldn’t sound out of place in a folk horror film.
Directed by Mona Fastvold and co-written by Fastvold with her longtime partner Brady Corbet – who directed 2024’s ‘The Brutalist,’ which the couple also co-wrote – ‘Ann Lee’ is, like that film, eerily immersive in its historical period and driven by a singular performance from its star. You simply cannot take your eyes off Amanda Seyfried in this film, even if other actors are somewhat sidelined and the film itself raises questions about its subject that are never really answered.
Story and Direction
Born in Manchester, England in 1736, Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried) is brought up in a strict religious household, one of eight children, and sent to work at an early age in a cotton factory. In her 20s, she joins a religious sect known as the Shakers – literally the ‘Shaking Quakers,’ an offshoot of the Quaker faith that expiates sin and expresses devotion to God through ecstatic shaking, dancing, and singing.
After marrying an iron worker named Abraham (Christopher Abbott), being initiated into sex, and giving birth to four children who all die in infancy, Ann is committed to an asylum. These experiences, combined with a stint in prison for public evangelizing, trigger visions which result in her being deemed the second coming of Christ in female form.
Now known as Mother Ann Lee, Ann establishes a doctrine for the Shakers that renounces all sexual activity, which does not sit well with Abraham. Yet the Shakers also believe in gender equality, pacifism, human rights (they are appalled by slavery), and community sharing. Increasingly persecuted in England, Ann, her devoted brother William (Lewis Pullman), and a small band of followers journey to the American colonies and settle in upstate New York – but their persecution doesn’t end there.
Mona Fastvold presents all this in linear, straightforward fashion, adding surreal imagery and some showy camera moves to accentuate the more spiritual moments of Ann Lee’s life. The songs – a mix of chants, Shaker hymns, and folk melodies – are haunting enough to not clash with the film’s tone and esthetic, which veers from the pastoral to the brutal – the latter especially in the scenes where Ann gives birth, as well as a later, harrowing sequence of persecution and torture.
Where Fastvold loses focus is the story’s meaning. The Shakers espoused some truly progressive ideals, and their dancing and shaking were indeed rapturous, even bordering (at least onscreen) on the erotic. That brings Ann’s whole rigid adherence to celibacy for her flock into question, along with her own mental state and the frankly cult-like piety of her followers.
Was she channeling the divine, or was she suffering from trauma brought on by sexual dysfunction and the horrific loss of her children? How did her anti-sex mandate coexist with ‘be fruitful and multiply’? The film doesn’t make a strong case either way, and while it’s visually powerful and often dramatically moving, there’s a bit of an empty feeling at the end (especially when the closing credits reveal that there are only three Shakers left in the world today).
Cast and Performances
Amanda Seyfried has always been an exceptional actor, but she pushes herself to new heights in ‘Ann Lee.’ In a year full of raw performances by women like Rose Byrne, Jessie Buckley, and Jennifer Lawrence, Seyfried not only fearlessly embraces the extremes that are brought upon Ann – including graphically disastrous childbirths, beatings, and torture – but fully inhabits the spirituality and determination of the women.
While whatever drove Ann Lee – whether it was a connection to the divine or the throes of mental illness – is open to debate, Seyfried never leaves any doubt of what Ann herself believes. Her subtle physical transformation and beautiful singing voice only add to what is nothing less than an epic performance.
It’s a shame that many of the other characters and performers struggle to stand out in the shadow of Seyfried’s work, but Thomasin McKenzie makes an impression as her devoted assistant Mary and Lewis Pullman broadens his range as well with his portrayal of Ann’s fiercely loyal and devout brother William. Also notable is Christopher Abbott, whose face tells the story of a man who is slowly checking out of what he found so compelling about Ann and the Shaker beliefs – it’s too bad that he more or less disappears from the story halfway through.
Final Thoughts
Despite its thematic murkiness – and lapses in character development for everyone but its central figure – ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ is still a unique cinematic experience. We can’t say enough about Seyfried’s performance, and the film as a whole is a gripping, evocative experience.
And setting aside the question of Ann’s convictions and the Shakers’ dedication to them, ‘Ann Lee’ is also a portrait of a woman trying to espouse and extend bold ideals and, of course, meeting resistance every step of the way. That she manages to create at least the beginnings of a truly egalitarian society, despite the odds and its own strange attributes, is akin in a way to the creation of such a challenging film itself.
‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ receives a score of 85 out of 100.
What is the plot of ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’?
Visionary spiritual leader Ann Lee rises from obscurity in 18th century England to forge the radical religious movement that will become the Shakers. Driven by her beliefs and persecuted in two countries, Ann gathers devoted followers who come to see her as the female embodiment of Christ.
Who is in the cast of ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’?
- Amanda Seyfried as Ann Lee
- Lewis Pullman as William Lee
- Thomasin McKenzie as Mary Partington
- Christopher Abbott as Abraham Standerin
- Stacy Martin as Jane Wardley
- Scott Handy as James Wardley
- Matthew Beard as James Whittaker
- Viola Prettejohn as Nancy Lee
- Tim Blake Nelson as Pastor Reuben Wright
List of Amanda Seyfried Movies and TV Shows
- ‘As the World Turns’ (1999-2001)
- ‘Mean Girls’ (2004)
- ‘Veronica Mars’ (2004-2006)
- ‘Big Love’ (2006–2011)
- ‘Mamma Mia!’ (2008)
- ‘Jennifer’s Body’ (2009)
- ‘Chloe’ (2009)
- ‘Letters to Juliet’ (2010)
- ‘Red Riding Hood’ (2011)
- ‘In Time’ (2011)
- ‘Les Misérables’ (2012)
- ‘Lovelace’ (2013)
- ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’ (2014)
- ‘While We’re Young’ (2014)
- ‘Ted 2’ (2015)
- ‘Pan’ (2015)
- ‘Love the Coopers’ (2015)
- ‘Twin Peaks’ (2017)
- ‘First Reformed’ (2018)
- ‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again’ (2018)
- ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain’ (2019)
- ‘You Should Have Left’ (2020)
- ‘Mank’ (2020)
- ‘Things Heard & Seen’ (2021)
- ‘The Dropout’ (2022)
- ‘The Crowded Room’ (2023)
- ‘Seven Veils’ (2023)
- ‘I Don’t Understand You’ (2024)
- ‘Long Bright River’ (2025)
- ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ (2025)
- ‘The Housemaid’ (2025)
