Title – The Testament of Ann Lee (2025)

Director – Mona Fastvold (The World to Come)

Cast – Amanda Seyfried, Lewis Pullman, Thomasin McKenzie, Matthew Beard, Christopher Abbott

Plot – Explores the life and times of the founding leader of the Shaker Movement, Ann Lee (Seyfried), from her beginnings in England through to her ventures in America spreading the movement globally in the 1700’s.  

“You will go out and make our presence known”

Review by Eddie on 24/06/2026

A new collaboration between The Brutalist creative team members and real life couple Brady Corbet (here on joint writing duties) and director Mona Fastvold, The Testament of Ann Lee was a victim of a busy end of year awards season in 2025 as it came and went without much audience fanfare on its way to lacklustre box office results, despite a large collection of glowing critical reviews and nominations in heavy hitting awards such as the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards.

An historically based musical drama the follows the rise of the religious Shaker Movement that was set in motion be the titular Ann Lee (an awards worthy Amanda Seyfried in what should be considered a career best turn), Testament is far from a stereotypical historical outing and certainly won’t appeal to audiences in broad strokes but there’s a visceral power to Fastvold’s film and a uniqueness to proceedings that makes it an impressively unpredictable watch.

Clocking in over two hours, Fastvold and Corbet’s script packs a lot into its runtime from Ann’s early life as a dedicated but traumatised housewife in England in the mid 1700’s right through to her leadership of a fervent group of acolytes and followers in the changing tides of early America and while at times not everything is given the room to breathe in the way audiences may wish for, this is an always visually captivating and never dull exploration of a woman who helped shape the evangelical revival as well as a vehicle for Seyfried to really showcase her all round prowess.

Asked to do a lot here, both physically and emotionally, Seyfried delivers a stunning turn as the complex and determined Ann, from her time as a grieving wife/mother, curious student of religion right through to flock leading master, this is a role that required Seyfried to be all in and she’s more than up for the task.

Glowing and standing out even more so than the films memorable visual style and often vibrant song and dance numbers, Seyfried not making the cut at the recent Oscar ceremony this year is one of the most disappointing results of the year, even if the Testament’s odd approach and unusual exploration no doubt hurt her chances of appealing to more voters.

A candidate for finding an enthusiastic if small fanbase now that it’s available to all via home streaming mediums, Testament should be regarded a memorable big swing that can enjoyed despite its storytelling flaws and misjudgements, proving that Corbet and his creative compatriots are unique filmmaking talents unafraid to do things differently for better and worse.

Final Say –

Anchored around some stunning visuals and a powerhouse performance from Amanda Seyfried, The Testament of Ann Lee is a challenging and eccentric epic that deserves to be discovered in a larger way than its initial release.

3 1/2 annoyed travellers out of 5