The Testament of Ann Lee tracks the epic immigrant journey of Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried), a prominent female religious figure who led the Shaker movement from the U.K to the U.S at the start of the revolution. Being a woman and preaching a gospel differently than the English church, her small group of followers face peril and obstacle from every angle as we get to see how the world responds to the faith, passion and life of a female religious leader.
Ann Lee is a really well-shot, well-blocked film. This is key for the many dancing sequences which are expertly captured and stand out from almost any other dancing scene in recent film history with its coverage of a very unique worship. What’s more, the film has a lot of interesting commentary on religion itself, and Christianity as a whole. At the very least, it is an interesting lesson on the theological development of Christianity and the different denominations that come from the faith.
Amanda Seyfried is amazing, bringing energy passion into every song, movement and line. What’s more, Lewis Pullman did very well in his role as the brother. He has a very quiet and subtle role at points, but he does get the chance to shine and have a commanding prescense, and one that is still intentionally not as powerful as Ann Lee’s.
The music is very good and incorporated into scenes naturally, despite the songs often feeling absurd. They make a lot of the hymns and acapella praise music that is sung very intriguing. Daniel Blumberg also creates a very interesting score composition with unconventional use of instruments, especially for a period film like this. It works really well and makes some of the most impactful scenes even more effective.
Admittedly, there are some pacing issues. It could’ve been a shorter movie overall, but most scenes really communicate a lot about this character. There’s a lot to be said about this film as a feminist film, especially when it releases a religion and how sexism has been prominent in religion, but it also has a lot of other intriguing themes as an immigrant story.
The Testament of Ann Lee is playing at TIFF ’25. For more information, click here.
