Venice Film Festival: Review of The Testament of Ann Lee

Ann Lee, Based on a True Story

In The Testament of Ann Lee, the plot is set in the 1700s and recounts the life of religious leader Ann Lee, skillfully portrayed by Amanda Seyfried who delivers herself to several bold sequences. Ann was the founder of the Shaker movement, considered by her followers to be the female Christ, referred to as Mother Ann, capable of establishing herself as a female leader of one of the greatest religious societies. Lee thus becomes one of the rare women to lead a religious community, with worship practices that include exuberant group singing and dancing.

Mona Fastvold, who previously directed "The World to Come," offers powerful and evocative sequences. She delivers a well-structured direction, alternating musical sequences with narrative frames, with voiceover that at times seems to overload the already rich storytelling but also appears necessary to mark the fundamental stages of Ann Lee's life.

Amanda Seyfried in the role of the protagonist delivers a bold and intense interpretation, embodying Ann Lee with depth.

As the narrative brings to light the contradictions of the time—the persecution against religious faiths, the struggle to affirm non-violent freedom of worship, the distrust of female preachers, and the repression of gender equality—The Testament of Ann Lee represents all this: emancipation and the right to affirm freedom of worship in an era where obscurantism still reigned.