The team behind last year’s THE BRUTALIST, co-writers Mona Fastvold and Brady Corbet, return with another ambitious swing for the fences, this time with Fastvold in the director’s chair. With stunning celluloid cinematography and an astounding score and soundscape, THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE plumbs the life and times of Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried), the founder of the Shaker movement and one of pre-Revolutionary America’s most seminal religious figures. Lee’s tragic loss of all her children in infancy or early childhood, along with her radically unique interpretation of scripture, transformed her into a fierce advocate for a more equitable and utopian society. Her beliefs become a policy adopted by her devoted followers, whose frenzied, ecstatic worship — as Fastvold depicts it — almost serves as a communal substitute for sexual activity. The feverish ceremonies are inventively captured in musical numbers and original songs by Academy Award winner Daniel Blumberg, sung by Seyfried and cast. The Shaker movement’s pacifism, its emphasis on simplicity in architecture, and its music and dances had a long-lasting, salutary impact on American culture. (Synopsis adapted from the Toronto International Film Festival)
“Sure to go down in history as one of the strangest musicals ever made, Mona Fastvold’s THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE tells the story of the founding leader of the Shaker faith through reimagined spirituals and hybrid dance sequences mixing traditional and modern moves. That might sound vaguely experimental and abstract, but the film is the opposite of aloof…. I’ve never quite seen anything like it.” —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture “It doesn’t get hung up on the gospel truth. This is a film defined by a profound respect for its namesake’s faith, but it’s also a film driven by an even more profound appreciation for the more secular ideals that she leveraged her faith to pursue; it’s remarkable as a testament of Ann Lee, and even more so as a testament to her quasi-artistic ability to marshal people together in the service of creating a better world…. In a sense, THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE is a celebration of…the conditions required to make a movie like THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE.” —David Ehrlich, IndieWire “THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE is rich in agnostic questioning and bemused human interest, but at such radiant peaks, Fastvold makes believers of us all.” —Ben Croll, The Wrap
