The Testament of Ann Lee Review

The Testament of Ann Lee is a historical musical biopic that chronicles the life of the 18th-century Shaker prophet Ann Lee. Directed by Mona Fastvold and co-written by Brady Corbet, the film spans several decades of Lee's life, tracing her travels from Manchester to New York.

The narrative is framed through the perspective of Mary Partington, played by Thomasin McKenzie, who serves as the film's narrator. The movie utilizes lush historical detail and 70mm cinematography by William Rexer to depict the spiritual ecstasy and ritualistic motions of the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing.

Central to the film is Amanda Seyfried's portrayal of Ann Lee, described as a career-best performance filled with tremendous gusto. The story explores Lee's complicated relationship with her body, her grief over the death of her children, and her eventual rejection of carnal impulse, which forms the foundation of her self-proclaimed divinity. The film presents Lee's theological stature without employing a skeptical lens, resulting in an immersive experience of the Shaker faith.

The film arrives with all the lush historical detail expected of the genre, made even more inviting by William Rexer's 70mm cinematography. It begins with a decontextualized vista of women in bonnets and religious robes moving rhythmically in the woods in the late 1700s. This image, removed from time, is all that is known to most people about the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, also known as the "Shakers."

Directed by The Brutalist co-writer Mona Fastvold, the film presents itself as an article of faith. Despite Fastvold being raised in a secular household, the filmmakers present the story as though it were a religious text. The camera buys into Ann Lee's theological stature, and the frame becomes enraptured by the Shakers' ritualistic motions, capturing worshippers in alternating close-ups and panoramas as they beat their chests with open palms.

The instrumentation by composer Daniel Blumberg remains largely faithful to what one might have heard at the time. The songs and movements, drawn from real Shaker music, are acoustically addicting, contributing to the film's commitment to naturalistic performance.

Amanda Seyfried plays the eponymous religious leader with tremendous passion, turning in a career-best performance. She sells Ann's unshakable zeal with tremendous gusto, portraying a woman who emerges from the throes of anguish so convinced of herself that she believes with every fiber of her being that her conception of the world is the right one.

The film explores Ann's childhood and early adult years, highlighting her complicated relationship with her body and beliefs. This includes her revulsion towards sex and the movie's sudden flashes of visceral biblical imagery, such as brief inserts of Renaissance paintings depicting Eden with phallic snakes. After marrying fellow congregant Abraham, Ann's experimentations with sex and BDSM leave her spiritually unfulfilled.

As the years go by, she bears four different children, all of whom die before the age of one. This pervading grief informs the way she eventually reshapes the Shaker church. The film frames Ann's mourning not only as a key to her rejection of carnal impulse but as the foundation of her self-proclaimed divinity. Her visions, she claims, come to her in moments of mania, such as when she is imprisoned for her beliefs and likely ill and dehydrated.

The narrative is driven by Mary Partington, a key supporting character played by Thomasin McKenzie. She acts as the film's narrator, providing conflicting accounts of Ann's life but ultimately deciding which parts of her story are worth telling and believing. The film is about the reinterpretation of doctrine that is itself reinterpreted for the audience by a woman invested in making Ann (affectionately called "Mother" by her worshippers) seem like the Second Coming.

The story traces the Shakers' journey from their early days in Manchester to the New World. In their early days, Ann Lee and her supportive brother William join the Shakers, attending closed-door meetings involving confessions in the form of song and exorcising sin through writhing and rhythmic thumping. This was a time of great religious upheaval; Methodism had just been born, and the Church of England was entwined with state power and cruel penalties.

Eventually, the faith leads the Shakers across the Atlantic. They remain largely apolitical but invite the consequences of doing so during the Revolutionary War. As Ann's convictions grow stronger, Abraham wavers, testing each of their commitments to the cause of an abstract utopia. However, the film finds no need to employ a skeptical lens to its chronology, resulting in a narrative where Ann is rarely tempted to stray from her path, offering little by way of dramatic tension.

The film's ensemble is wonderfully fine-tuned. Tim Blake Nelson and Jamie Bogy play senior churchgoers who, in a decision that feels almost countercultural despite the Shakers' conservative constraints, yield to the word of a young woman. This faith eventually leads the Shakers to the New World, where they remain largely apolitical.

Being immersed in the Shaker world for two hours and change verges on liberating, especially during scenes of percussive prayer. The film portrays the Shakers as a particularly enduring Christian sect, whose number recently rose to 3. While there is nothing especially cruel about the Shakers, they do excommunicate members who break their rules concerning fornication.

Ultimately, the film is a particularly compelling experience that mythologizes an oft-forgotten historical figure. Its unusual beliefs about celibacy are presented as having altruistic ends. While the movie's framing through Mary's eyes yields a narrative in which Ann is rarely tempted to stray from her path, the commitment to naturalistic performance and the intoxicating presentation of faith make it a standout entry in the musical biopic genre.