Amanda Seyfried has plenty of faith in a game changing performance.
Ann Lee, also known as Mother Ann, was the founding leader of the millenarian restorationist Christian sect, known as the Shakers. Eventually, they would be renamed the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Coming.”
She might even be considered by her followers as a female reincarnation of Jesus Christ. She married the blacksmith Abraham, and had four babies who died in infancy. And despite all the temptations and personal tragedies she has come across (and she was not very fond of sexuality), she found her faith in God. I’ve never heard of her before I saw the movie “The Testament of Ann Lee,” but I have looked some things up about her.
Set in the 18th century, Amanda Seyfried (also currently in “The Housemaid”) plays Ann, and this happens to be her most exceptional performance in years. When she leads the Shakers in worship, it’s well choreographed by Celia Rowlson-Hall (“Smile 2”). And when she ends up in prison, she sings her words radiantly. It might remind some movie goers of her role in “Les Miserables.”
When she spread the word that she is “married to Christ,” people were not very fond of female preachers. When they throw stuff at her, she see the blood trickling down her head and hand. And when she and her followers sing and pray on a ship en route from England to America, they’re told to “shut it” and are even threatened to be thrown off by the captain. But regardless, she and her followers pray and sing in the sun and the winter. And the editing by Sofia Subercasraux brings it all together.
The cast also includes Lewis Pullman as Ann’s brother William, who supports her cause when when there are signs of doubt; Christopher Abbott as Abraham, who didn’t follow the same beliefs and starts drinking; Thomasin McKenzie as one of her followers Mary Partington, who also serves as the film’s narrator; and Tim Blake Nelson as a local priest, who thinks Judgement Day is coming the day of a solar eclipse.
“The Testament of Ann Lee” was directed by Mona Fastvold, who also co-wrote the script with her spouse Brady Corbet, and these two just collaborated on my favorite from from last year “The Brutalist.” This is also her first directing job since “The World to Come,” and it’s clear that she has the right actresses portraying women in period pieces. Especially in this movie, when she made Ann’s birthing processes (and remember she was pregnant four times) as real as possible with prosthetic vaginas. This movie is rated R, so it wants to take risks and it wants to tell Mother Ann’s story with realism and humanity.
This is also the second independent musical I’ve seen this season after “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” and both of them may not feature easy scenes to watch (women will get violently injured, and there will be blood), but they assemble the right people to sing their words and acknowledge the times and places. And Daniel Blumberg wrote the songs with Shaker hymns. I don’t think this movie will make as much money as “Wicked: For Good” has, but that doesn’t mean it’s not entertaining. Because it is.
Seyfried excels as an actress, and she plays Ann with the right kind of humanity and voice. It’s a performance that deserves some Oscar buzz. And she also has exceptional supporting work from Pullman and McKenzie, who respectively deliver their words and tone with a delicate grace. And the 25-year-old actress narrates this movie with crustal clear clarity.
There has never been a movie about Mother Ann until now, and “The Testament of Ann Lee” couldn’t be more devoted and passionate about her and the beliefs she spread the word about. And both Seyfried and Lee are not self-congratulatory with their works. The actress acts, and the spiritual leader preaches.
