From award-winning writer-director Mona Fastvold (The World to Come, The Brutalist) comes the extraordinary true legend of Ann Lee, founder of the devotional sect known as the Shakers. Academy Award nominee Amanda Seyfried stars as the Shakers’ irrepressible leader, who preached gender and social equality and was revered by her followers. The Testament of Ann Lee captures the ecstasy and agony of her quest to build a utopia, featuring more than a dozen traditional Shaker hymns reimagined as rapturous movements with choreography by Celia Rowlson-Hall (Vox Lux) and original songs & score by Academy Award winner Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist).
As a film, Mona Fastvold’s magnificent religious epic, “The Testament of Ann Lee,” is the finest piece of cinema this year — a startling and clear-headed work of genius, led by a remarkable Amanda Seyfried in the film’s titular role. -Salon
Amanda Seyfried shines as Ann Lee, delivering a potent performance, her eyes lit with commanding devotion. -Chicago Reader
It’s not unreasonable to ask: Why put so much energy and attention and craftsmanship into telling this particular story? Well, one answer is pretty simple: they had Seyfried. -Associated Press
It’s unlike any other ever put on screen, but definitely a song-and-dance show at regular, exhilarating intervals. -San Francisco Chronicle
The Testament of Ann Lee is unimaginable with any other actress—but then again, it’s unimaginable, period, a movie that takes big chances in a culture that, most days, seems allergic to them. -TIME Magazine
The few full-blown examples of 18th century everyday people losing themselves to the holy-roller beat carries this film even more than the meticulous historical recreations. It’s a period film with 6/8 pulse. -Rolling Stone
R, 137min
