If you watched Brady Corbet’s Oscar-winning architectural behemoth The Brutalist earlier this year and found yourself thinking, “Yeah, this is great, but it’d be even better if it was actually a historical epic musical about the founder of the Shaker Movement,” then A) we admire the specificity of your cinematic taste, and B) you are in luck! With The Testament Of Ann Lee, Corbet’s Brutalist co-writer, partner, and The World To Come filmmaker Mona Fastvold returns to the directorial hotseat for precisely that — a historical epic musical starring Amanda Seyfried as Ann Lee, the progressivist founder of, well, the Shaker Movement. For those in search of song, dance, and a glimpse into the making of an 18th century religious utopia, check out the trailer below;
This may not be Amanda Seyfried’s first rodeo starring as a near-saintly figure in a religiously charged musical epic, but Les Misérables this most assuredly ain’t — at least not if the minute or so of footage here is anything to go by. Co-written by Corbet and Fastvold, shot on sumptuous 35mm film, and boasting choreography from Vox Lux‘s Celia Rowlson-Hall set to music from The Brutalist composer Daniel Blumberg, The Testament Of Ann Lee follows Seyfried’s Mancunian religious leader as she sets sail for America, seeking to establish a utopian society rooted in faith, worship, celibacy, and equality. As the above trailer shows however, Lee’s is a path strewn with temptation, hardship, and liberal smatterings of song-and-dance.
The (abridged) official synopsis for the movie — which also stars Lewis Pullman, Thomasin Mckenzie, Stacy Martin, Christopher Abbott, and Tim Blake Nelson — reads as follows: “From award-winning writer-director Mona Fastvold comes the extraordinary true legend of Ann Lee, founder of the devotional sect known as the Shakers. Amanda Seyfried stars as the Shaker’s irrepressible leader, who preached gender and social equality and was revered by her followers. The Testament Of Ann Lee captures the ecstasy and agony of her quest to build a utopia, featuring more than a dozen traditional Shaker hymns reimagined as rapturous movements.”
Having lit up the Venice Film Festival back in September, where Seyfried’s performance was met with an astonishing 15-minute standing ovation, all the omens point towards The Testament Of Ann Lee being a cinematic event not to be missed. If you start practicing your clapping now, you should be ready for the movie’s release on 20 February, 2026. Probably.