The Testament of Ann Lee blends documented Shaker history with dramatized legend

Collider reports that Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee, now playing in theaters, stars Amanda Seyfried as Ann Lee, the 18th-century figure who led the Shakers and promoted celibacy and egalitarian worship. The film draws on several documented elements: Lee was born in 18th-century England as the second of eight children, reportedly witnessed her parents having sex, was married to a blacksmith named Abraham Standarin, and lost four children in infancy.

She attended Wardley Society “Shaking Quaker” meetings, preached celibacy and pacifism, discouraged participation in the Revolutionary War, traveled to recruit members, and in 1774 sailed with followers to establish a Shaker colony near Albany, New York. Fastvold adapts actual Shaker hymns (arranged by Daniel Blumberg) into sweeping musical sequences, but the choreography is a stylistic leap from the slower, more rigid historical Shaker dances.

The film amplifies lore where the record is thin: legends that Lee spoke many tongues (rumors range from “over a dozen languages” to phrases like “was it 12 or 72, who really knows?”), tales of miracles, and dramatized details around her brother’s death and the injuries that killed Lee.

Key Topics

Culture, Ann Lee, Shakers, Amanda Seyfried, Mona Fastvold, Wardley Society