The Testament of Ann Lee

The Testament of Ann Lee is an ambitious musical portrait of the visionary woman who founded the Shaker movement in the late 1700s. Ann Lee, masterfully played by Amanda Seyfried, is portrayed as a self-taught prophet whose message of celibacy, equality, and community was opposed by both church and state.

The film follows Ann from a tough upbringing in England until the Shakers realize their utopian ambitions by migrating to America. Based on the Shaker sect's tradition of ecstatic worship, director Mona Fastvold choreographs the rituals into a cinematic expression – where breath, trembling, and song merge into a language of faith. The musical sequences unfold as waves of spiritual possession: they are deeply physical, unsettling, and ecstatic. The Testament of Ann Lee is a period drama that feels genuinely new: a daring, visionary film anchored by Seyfried's intense and convincing performance.