The Testament Of Ann Lee (15)

Ann Lee and brother William are raised in 1730s Manchester and work in the local cotton factory. The girl becomes increasingly pious and she seeks spiritual succour at a meeting of Quakers led by James Wardley and his wife Jane. A spontaneous outpouring of emotion moves Ann and she subsequently marries another member of the congregation, Abraham Standerin. When Ann experiences a heavenly vision, she is anointed 'Mother' by her flock and begins to lay the groundwork for the Shakers sect.

LondonNet Film Review

The Testament Of Ann Lee (15) Film Review from LondonNet

Norwegian filmmaker and actress Mona Fastvold, who was Oscar-nominated with her partner Brady Corbet for their screenplay to The Brutalist, pushes creative boundaries again with an audacious musical biopic of the founder of the Shakers religious sect. Galvanised by an incendiary lead performance from Amanda Seyfried as the eponymous preacher, who followers anoint the female Messiah, The Testament Of Ann Lee is a defiantly unconventional history lesson that induces moments of euphoria with its breathlessly staged interludes of dance and song…

Ann Lee (Esmee Hewett) and brother William (Benjamin Bagota) are raised in 1730s Manchester and work in the local cotton factory. The girl becomes increasingly pious. “When she was a child, her mind was taken up with the things of God. She saw heavenly visions, instead of trifling toys,” explains Ann’s closest friend Mary Partington (Thomasin McKenzie), who acts as the film’s narrator. Ann blossoms into a spirited young woman (now played by Seyfried) and seeks spiritual succour at a meeting of Quakers led by James Wardley (Scott Handy) and his wife Jane (Stacy Martin). A spontaneous outpouring of emotion moves Ann and she subsequently marries another member of the congregation, Abraham Standerin (Christopher Abbott), but repeatedly denies him carnal pleasure because sex is a sin.

Abraham is “a perplexed observer of his wife’s theological virtues” and when Ann experiences a heavenly vision, she is anointed ‘Mother’ by her flock. Neighbours grow fearful and a wealthy farmer pays for the congregation to relocate to New England accompanied by the farmer’s son (Jamie Bogyo). Ann’s brother William (Lewis Pullman) establishes a Shakers settlement on land in Niskayuna and is joined by his sister and a steadily swelling population of converts. As news of Ann’s influence travels far and wide, she is openly accused of witchcraft.

The Testament Of Ann Lee slowly peels back the emotional layers of the title character as she brandishes her faith as a weapon against perceived sinfulness. Seyfried’s sensational performance electrifies every frame and she remains a magnetic screen presence during elaborate musical sequences festooned with dozens of enraptured dancers. Collaborating closely with composer Daniel Blumberg, choreographer Celia Rowlson-Hall honours original Shaker melodies, hymns and words, and interprets spiritual incantations as rhapsodic, body-trembling movements that whip an ensemble cast into communal exultation.

Many of these sequences are shot in extended takes that force the camera to pirouette around performers, sometimes in the open air but most strikingly in candle-lit interiors. Dozens of dancers with long hair flail and twirl close to flickering naked flames, blissfully lost in swells of overlapping human voices. Languid pacing accounts for an unwieldy 137-minute running time that prevents Fastvold’s historical portrait from ascending straight to heaven. The film, like Ann, remains earthbound in ecstasy.

– Jo Planter