Original title: ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ Review: Amanda Seyfried Channels Agony and Ecstasy in Audacious Epic That’s Easier to Admire Than to Love
You have to hand it to Mona Fastvold and her partner and longtime collaborator Brady Corbet — they never play it safe with conventional, easily digestible material. Fastvold’s ambitious third feature, The Testament of Ann Lee, is a speculative account of the life of the 18th century religious leader who founded the Shakers and was falsely accused of treason, witchcraft and whatever else the Congregationalist establishment of New England could throw at her. Amanda Seyfried holds nothing back as the title figure in a movie that, for better or worse, often seems fueled by the same hysterical intensity that characterizes the movement’s worship. Elevated by mesmerizing songs of thanks and praise adapted by composer Daniel Blumberg from traditional spirituals and animated by the whirling rapture and vigorous physical expression of Shaker prayer, in which believers surrender their bodies to the Holy Spirit, this is certainly not a movie in which I was ever bored. The Testament of Ann Lee The