Review: ‘Ann Lee’ is a bold look at a religious crusader

Any film that dares to cover the life of a spiritual leader will likely run right into a high level of skepticism, scrutiny, derision and, yes, even some old-fashioned acceptance. Religion does hold that unwavering power, able to inspire and heal while making others wary and uncomfortable. Director and co-screenwriter Mona Fastvold’s brilliant, music-infused biopic faces a tough haul in appealing to movie masses — regardless of their faith — because religion has never been a one-size-fits-all practice.

RELATED: Shakers film shows how obscure religion championed modern ideals 

But don’t shrug off this gutsy film — one of the best movies of 2025. It was released in a smattering of theaters before its January-wide push. It deserved better.

Fastvold’s sweeping vision keeps you in its thrall from the opening title sequence that sends you  back to the mid 18th century and into the realm of the Shakers. The film is intricately detailed and passionately alive, delivering a non-judgmental overview of a lesser-known religious figure, 18th-century Shaker founder Ann Lee, played with a transcendent and ethereal quality by Amanda Seyfried, who all but levitates her performance off the screen.

Mother Ann, as Lee was called, was one of history’s few female faith leaders, which is probably why we don’t know that much about her. She sought to help establish a Utopian church community where everyone had a seat at the table and treated others with kindness and respect. Sex, though, was a big no-no.

Fastvold reunites with writing partner Brady Corbet (also her husband and director of last year’s Oscar-winning “The Brutalist”) and they avoid taking the familiar biopic path in exploring how a poor Manchester woman endured tragedy — the death of four of her infant children — and swore off sex with her husband (Christopher Abbot) and embarked on a spiritual journey that got piqued once she became involved with the Quakers. An existential shift soon happened. Along with her loyal, gay brother William Lee (Lewis Pullman, continuing to go after challenging roles) and friend/follower Mary Partington (Thomasin McKenzie) — the film’s sobering narrator — she and a clutch of followers set sail to America soon after Mother Ann’s imprisonment and persecution.

Seyfried’s performance elevates, even electrifies, the film, as does the decision to replicate Shaker worship through song and movement numbers, all of which are choreographed and performed to a spellbinding extent. It makes you feel the passion behind the person who believes that she’s a vessel for Christ. Using more than 12 Shaker spirituals, Oscar-winning composer Daniel Blumberg (“The Brutalist”) brings a music aesthetic that borders on the hypnotic and transcendent. The best number is the achingly beautiful “Hunger and Thirst,” which takes place in prison with a depleted Mother Ann having a vision. Another number set in America provides a bit of welcome humor.

“The Testament of Ann Lee” all but replicates what it is like to be in the throes of a passionate religious movement, and does it with a command and feminist fervor that is as undeniable as the mastery of the central, all-in performance from Seyfried.

Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.

‘TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE’

4 stars out of 4

Rating: R (sexual content, graphic nudity, violence and bloody images)

Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Lewis Pullman, Thomasin McKenzie, Stacy Martin and Christopher Abbott

Director: Mona Fastvold

Running time: 2 hours, 17 minutes

When & where: Opens Jan. 23 in theaters