THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE -- Seyfried Succeeds

Review by Adam Donato

One of the biggest players during last year’s awards season was The Brutalist from Brady Corbet. His co-writer and producer, Mona Fastvold, takes her turn in the director’s chair for The Testament of Ann Lee. Corbet, in turn, co-writes and produces here. Amanda Seyfried famously lobbied to play Glinda in Wicked and now stars in an opposing awards hopeful musical. Young stars Lewis Pullman and Thomasin McKenzie round out the cast of this historical musical drama. The movie tells the story of the woman who founded the Shaker Movement. Can The Testament of Ann Lee compete this awards season?

The best decision The Testament of Ann Lee made was to make this into a musical. It’s awkward watching this so close to seeing Wicked: For Good because this movie is on a whole other level. The scenes depicting their worship method are absolutely electrifying. A lot of credit goes to the dance choreography and the framing. The songs feel like incantations pulling you into this cult like religion. The rest of the movie plays a lot more like a typical historical biopic so these musical and dance sequences inject life into the movie. It’s a clear case of doing so much with so little. Several songs that are sure to make it onto the playlist.

Amanda Seyfried hasn’t really had her moment in the sun. The Emmy winner was nominated for an Oscar for Mank in 2021, but that’s the only nomination to her name. It will be a major snub if this performance is not prioritized this awards season. Her performance is reminiscent of Maria Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc. Both play these strong-willed female characters who claim to have prophetic visions. It’s at times a very physical performance as Seyfried’s character is put through the ringer here. It’s the best performance of her career so far. She has a more commercial role in The Housemaid, coming out during the Christmas season, which will hopefully draw attention to a much smaller movie like this. A handful of nominations would help, too. 

The Testament of Ann Lee is the best musical of the awards season and deserves to be seen in a theater. Corbet and Fastvold are a winning duo and hopefully continue the momentum from The Brutalist. Musical veteran at this point, Amanda Seyfried makes her case for the Best Actress Oscar this awards season. It’s not your typical historical biopic. 

The Testament of Ann Lee will be in theaters on December 25.

Rating: 4/5