“The Testament of Ann Lee” is the latest film from Mona Fastvold and Brady Corbet, the team behind “The Brutalist.” This time, Fastvold is behind the camera while she and Corbet share screenwriting duties. At 137 minutes, this story of the founding leader of the Shakers religion is far shorter than the duo’s Oscar-winning tale of an immigrant architect. But both films share common strengths and weaknesses.
I admired “The Brutalist” more than I liked it. The second half of that film did not work as well as the first. In fact, it didn’t work at all. Broken into three acts, the same fate befalls “Ann Lee,” but there’s a larger problem at play here. Outside of Ann Lee, played in a fierce, impressive performance by a fearless Amanda Seyfried, none of the other characters register.
Fastvold aims to cover a lot of territory, and to do so in an unconventional manner that involves song, dance, and avant-garde camerawork. Though the story of Lee’s desire to build a utopia for her followers feels flat and rushed, the overall nonchalance that serves as the film’s primary weakness also works as its strength in one particular way.
The unobtrusive manner in which Fastvold depicts the unwavering faith of Ann Lee and her followers is the film’s most intriguing component. In the same way that this isn’t a musical — it’s a drama with singing and dancing — “The Testament of Ann Lee” is a movie about faith, but not a faith-based movie.
Fastvold avoids all the pomp and circumstance that mar religious movies like “God’s Not Dead” and numerous others. Those films are thinly veiled conversion tactics that feed empty calories to audiences that need no convincing. They’re not asking us to believe in their religion — they’re demanding that we do.
By comparison, when Fastvold presents Lee as a woman whose followers believe she is the second coming of Christ, we’re not asked to believe that she is. We’re invited to consider that Lee and her flock would buy it — and that they would die for it. The stripped down, empathetic portrayal of this belief is far more effective than any proselytizing would have been. That alone makes “The Testament of Ann Lee” a better depiction of the power of faith than most faith-based features.
Fastvold covers Lee’s early involvement in the Shaking Quakers religion in Manchester, England, through her immigration to Albany County, New York as the guiding light of the Shakers, and ending with her death. The Shaking Quakers earned their moniker due to the ecstatic dancing that serves as a freer form of confession. There’s also a belief that, since God created men and women in His own image, the second coming of Jesus would be female. Unlike the Church of England, the Shakers didn’t have a problem with women preachers.
Before she takes over the Shakers, Lee’s life is filled with tragedy. The narration by devoted follower, Sister Mary (Thomasin McKenzie) tells us that she saw heavenly visions. She also, from an early age, saw all forms of fornication as sinful. Regardless, she still married Abraham (Christopher Abbott) and had four children, all of whom died before they were a year old.
After a stint as a patient in the same mental infirmary where she once worked as a cook, Lee emerges as a leader. Along with her brother William (Lewis Pullman), she sets out to create a place where those who found no purchase in the Church of England could be free to worship and shake off their sins. Lee’s firm belief in sexual sin and abstinence drives away her husband, who cruelly abandons her.
Such an unconventional take on religion — led by a woman, no less — brings persecution for the Shakers in England and in America when they immigrate in the 1770s. Though religion-based utopias were common at the time in places like Massachusetts and New York, the Shakers were still met with horrible violence by men who found Lee threatening, or worse, who thought she a witch who was secretly a man.
Since little is known about Lee’s Shakers outside of their furniture and a few hymns, “The Brutalist”’s Oscar-winning composer, Daniel Blumberg supplements the score with some new songs performed by Seyfried. She delivers these haunting, repetitive melodies with excellent skill. The choreography by Celia Rowlson-Hall and the widescreen cinematography by William Rexer (which looks gorgeous in 70mm) also contribute to the overall ethereal mood.
And yet, when the credits rolled on this story of a woman who was, as we’re told, “clothed by the Sun,” I felt curiously empty and couldn’t remember anyone else besides Lee. That’s a testament to Seyfried’s performance, but doesn’t make for a satisfying movie. Once again, Fastvold and Corbet have crafted a movie I admired more than I liked.
★★
THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE
Directed by Mona Fastvold. Written by Fastvold and Brady Corbet. Starring Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Abbott, Lewis Pullman, Thomasin McKenzie. At Coolidge Corner. 137 min. R (brutal violence, nudity, sex)
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