The Testament of Ann Lee

by Hope Madden

Filmmaker Mona Fastvold (The World to Come) draws you into her latest by dancing into the woods with an ecstatic group dressed a bit like Puritans. The dance feels simultaneously choreographed and organic, but definitely somehow forbidden.

The Testament of Ann Lee spins its period tale, the true story of a founding leader of the Shakers, with none of the baggage expected of a historical drama. Snapshots of formative moments are held together with liltingly earnest narration from fellow shaker Mary Partington (Thomasin McKenzie), and with dance.

It’s a tough film to fit into a neat category, as, it would seem, was Lee herself. Played undiluted passion by Amanda Seyfried, Lee is a self-contained human in progress, aware of herself, her inclinations, and the pressures around her. She knows God in an uncompromising way and wants only to find community as devoted as she. She finds it with the Shakers, so named because, unlike the Quakers, they dance.

What Seyfried delivers is just shy of astonishing. There is no artifice, nothing calculated or naieve. And though the script offers you room to find reasons for Lee’s faith and the hang ups that fuel her fervor, it does not decide for you or judge her.

Fastvold’s script, (penned with Brady Corbet, with whom she wrote last year’s Oscar contender The Brutalist), does not ask you to believe that Lee was the second coming of Christ, as she and her assembly did. Nor does it ask you to disbelieve it. But it asks, quietly and regularly, all kinds of questions, delivers all kinds of information, suggests any number of possible answers. The approach to the writing is anthropological without being burdensome or dry, while the direction itself is passionate and bold, not an ounce of cynicism or pretension.

If you know little or nothing about the Shakers, we have that in common. Among the many joys of Fastvold’s film is that it unveils information without belaboring points. You’re left with questions, not because you can’t follow the film, but because you’re intrigued enough to want to know more.  

This is a passionate, bold film about building community, finding and remaining true to yourself, and the unrivaled power of dancing.