THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE

Director: Mona Fastvold
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Lewis Pullman, Christopher Abbott, Thomasin McKenzie, Matthew Beard, Tim Blake Nelson

Mona Fastvold and Brady Corbet were the filmmakers behind last year’s Oscar-winning film The Brutalist. Now they’re back looking at the world of the Shakers with The Testament of Ann Lee. Amanda Seyfried continues to show the breadth of her acting when you compare The Housemaid next to The Testament of Ann Lee. Both are in theaters and showcase how underrated she is as an actress. She plays the title character in this sweeping look at the Shaker movement. Thomasin McKenzie narrates the film as Mary Partington who describes how Ann claimed to have seen heavenly images as a child. She wanted to dedicate herself to serving God. It’s the middle of the 1700s in Manchester, England where she meets a community known as Shaking Quakers. They were a sect of the Quakers who sang and danced as part of their religious and spiritual ceremonies. Ann’s life was filled with one tragedy after another as we watch her bare four children all of whom died before they were one year old. She turned her suffering into evangelism as she believed she was the second coming of Christ to promote God’s word. This came at a time where she was shunned and disregarded for being a woman preacher. She never backed down and would take her ministry from Manchester to America. The film also stars Lewis Pullman as her brother, William, who helped spread her message. Christopher Abbott also appears as her husband, Abraham. In theaters

Here’s my review