Revered by her followers, Ann Lee preaches gender and social equality as the founder of the devotional sect the Shakers.
Director: Mona Fastvold
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Stacy Martin, Tim Blake Nelson, Christopher Abbott
Release Date: December 25, 2025
Genre: Biography, Drama, History, Musical
Rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, violence and bloody images
Runtime: 2h 10m
Review:
Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee is a fascinating curiosity of a film that’s powered by a fully committed turn from Amanda Seyfried and painstakingly constructed to elicit a sense of the religious fervor that drove Ann Lee but outside of the arresting musical numbers the film keeps the audience at a frustrating arm’s length from her psyche. Fastvold’s directs her film with a steady hand as we follow the course of Ann Lee’s life, narrated by Thomasin McKenzie’s Sister Mary, and her journey to self-discovery after the loss of four infants to her transformation into religious leader. The movie moves at a methodical pace with the musical numbers sprinkled throughout giving it a distinctive look and feel with those moments bringing a palpable sense of energy that the film struggles to maintain once those sequences end. Seyfried is fantastic across the board with the film giving her ample time for her talents to shine but the film takes the focus off her at regular intervals which dulls the impact of her performance. Lewis Pullman gets a hefty amount of screentime as her missionary brother tasked with growing their following which is fine, but his character is never as interesting or engaging as Seyfried’s Ann Lee. Their journey together into the new world feels like it should be far more riveting and engaging than it ultimately is onscreen. Seyfried’s character is further removed from the spotlight in the film’s final act which doesn’t give the audience a lot of insight into what made her so attractive to her followers or her general mindset as a self-proclaimed vessel of God. Her position as the rare female preacher also seems like fertile ground to explore but the film never delves too much into it until a violent encounter near the end of the film that is rather jarring thanks to the viciousness of the violence. After that point, the film fast tracks towards its finale in a rather rushed manner which just closes the story out as quickly as possible. It makes The Testament of Ann Lee feel like a missed opportunity since you get the sense that Seyfried could have brought so much more emotional texture and nuance that would have made her character connect on a more personal level that extended beyond her emotional damage.
C
