The Testament of Ann Lee Goes Full Stomp-Clap

"Mona Fastvold's third feature film is a historical musical starring Amanda Seyfried as the founder of the Shaker movement, an 18th-century religious sect that believed ecstatic dance (or shaking) was the most powerful form of worship. Our own critic called it "one of the strangest musicals ever made." Fastvold directed and co-wrote the film alongside her partner, Brady Corbet, whose strange period epic The Brutalist was one of last fall's most discussed and divisive films."

"The teaser is light on plot and heavy on stomp-clapping ( topical), cutting between dance numbers and snippets from colonial life. Seyfried looks incredible: raw, immense, and passionate. It's kind of crazy this is her first musical since absurdist masterpiece Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. She's joined by a brooding Christopher Abbott (who is great in Fastvold's last feature, The World to Come), Lewis Pullman, and Thomasin McKenzie, who appears to be blind in one eye."

Mona Fastvold's The Testament of Ann Lee is a historical musical that centers on Ann Lee, founder of the Shaker movement. The film depicts an 18th-century sect that believed ecstatic dance or 'shaking' was the most powerful form of worship. Amanda Seyfried stars as Ann Lee, delivering raw, immense, and passionate performances. Fastvold co-wrote and directed with Brady Corbet. The teaser emphasizes stomp-clapping and dance numbers intercut with colonial life. Supporting cast includes Christopher Abbott, Lewis Pullman, and Thomasin McKenzie. Daniel Blumberg arranged Shaker spirituals for the film. The production stages religious tableaus and foregrounds choreography as a primary mode of storytelling.

Read at Vulture