The Testament Of Ann Lee

TIFF REVIEW: BY DARREN ZAKUS

January 18, 2026

3.5 OUT OF 5 STARS

The Testament of Ann Lee heralds in a career best performance from Amanda Seyfried in one of the most unique historical dramas ever captured on film, that when paired with the gorgeous 35mm cinematography, the soaring musical score from Daniel Blumberg, and the use of song, dance and hymn, Mona Fastvold creates a religious experience for audiences to behold.

Mona Fastvold and Brady Corbet took film goers on an epic journey last awards season with The Brutalist, which they co-wrote and Corbet directed, setting big expectations for their next project. The wait was not long, with Fastvold taking the directorial reins for their next project and shooting at the same time as The Brutalist was making the rounds on the fall festival circuit, once again conjuring up an epic in scale historical drama, this time focusing on the founder of the Shaker movement, Ann Lee. Featuring more of that breathtaking cinematography that characterized their last film and inventive music from Daniel Blumberg, even with a screenplay that cannot find the depth that its central figure deserves, The Testament of Ann Lee easily overcomes its narrative shortcomings thanks to the staggering performance of Amanda Seyfried as Ann Lee that marks one of the best performances of the year.

For years Seyfried has been delighting audiences, making them laugh, cry, and get on their feet and sing and dance, but with The Testament of Ann Lee she does something she’s not done before: she will take away the audiences’ breaths with her dazzling performance. As the leader of the Shaker movement, Seyfried finds a rawness in her performance that allows her to lose herself as Ann Lee and transform in front of the audience’s eyes. With her beautiful singing voice, finding both lush harmonies in the music of Blumberg and bringing in more primal sounds to capture the spontaneity in the ways that worship moves Ann Lee, to the vulnerability and strength she finds in grappling with Ann Lee’s miscarriages and the intense opposition to the Shaker movement, Seyfried is the driving force behind the entire story with an emotionally captivating performance that you can’t take your eyes off. It truly is a tour de force performance from Seyfried that is without question the best work of her entire career, continuing to prove herself a formidable actress making incredible selections in projects to be a part of. The supporting cast of Lewis Pullman, Thomasin McKenzie, Christopher Abbott and Matthew Beard are all exceptional, especially Pullman who finds warmth and courage in Ann's brother William, and become great partners for Seyfried, but it is Seyfried’s performance that you will remember for weeks after the film ends.

Where the film has its shortcomings is in the screenplay. Trying to tell the entirety of Ann Lee’s life story and the early years of the Shakers, there is a lot of material to squeeze into the film that runs slightly over two hours. It’s the curse that many biopics fall victim too, having to focus on specific moments in the subject’s life while sacrificing others, and while this is less of a problem with more prominent figures, for Ann Lee and the Shakers who are not widely known, the audience’s lack of familiarity with them does not help to fill in the gaps in the screenplay. The result is a screenplay that moves quickly through the events of Lee’s life, only briefly introduces the Shaker’s beliefs of gender equality, community and pacifism, and leaves the supporting players very underdeveloped, delivering a cursory view of Lee’s life and the Shakers.

While there is more story to be told about Ann Lee, Fastvold makes sure that the spectacle in the technical aspects of the film supplements the storytelling to not only give depth to Ann’s life story, but helps to create the religious experience of the Shakers for the audience.

With the team Fastvold has assembled for The Testament of Ann Lee, it comes as no surprise that the film is a technical marvel across the board. Shot on 35mm film stock, every frame is stunning thanks to William Rexer’s cinematography which captures an incredible canvas on which Fastvold paints the story of Ann Lee, competently aided by Corbert who served as the second unit director capturing stunning shots of the Hungarian landscapes doubling as America in the eighteenth century. From the sequences featuring dance with the camera moving fluidly through the worship and the sprawling shots of the ship bringing the Shakers to America, there is a visual richness to every shot of the film with a healthy amount of film grain that creates a visual experience to get lost in.

Known for their ecstatic behaviour during worship, music and dance is a vital part of bringing to life Ann Lee’s story and the Shaker’s religion on screen. Celia Rowlson-Hall choreographs the dancing, finding a natural release of emotion through the dance movement that creates the image of the “Shaking Quakers” as the Shakers were initially referred to. While there are moments with the cast moving in unison, such as that unforgettable moment of worship on the ship taking the Quakers to America, there are other moments where each character's movements capture an idiosyncratic relationship to God that is distinctive, and even with multiple dancers doing their own movements, Rowlson-Hall and Fastvold bring this diverse movement together to create something magical.

To create the film’s music, Daniel Blumberg took the text of Shaker hymns and used them as inspiration, creating music for them to be set to. Experimental in every way imaginable, using vocal chants, mystical sounding percussion, and even electric bass at times to energize the score, it's a musical tour de force that helps drive the film from start to finish, continuing to prove that Blumberg is one of the most exciting composers currently working today. Combined, Rowlson-Hall and Blumberg’s individual efforts work together to bring to life the worship of the Shakers to create something truly unique that transcends what we as audiences would call musical numbers, conjuring up something far more cathartic and spiritual that fits perfectly in the film that Fastvold has created.

Even though the Shakers only exist in incredibly limited numbers today, the legacy of their founder lives on with the sensational pairing of writer and director Mona Fastvold and Amanda Seyfried. Conjuring up an ambitious film that boasts incredible cinematography and outstanding music from Daniel Blumberg, though one that is narratively thinner than its loft goals, there is no denying that The Testament of Ann Lee is yet another great achievement from Mona Fastvold and Brady Corbet. In what can only be described as a religious theatrical experience as Mona Fastvold immerses audiences in the musical worship of the Shakers, The Testament of Ann Lee is a showcase for the phenomenal performance of Amanda Seyfried who is nothing short of breathtaking as the titular religious leader, making for a must see film for any viewers trying to catch all the best performances of the year this awards season.