A Movement is Officially Born
Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee, led by Amanda Seyfried, has officially been acquired by Searchlight Pictures, according to Deadline. The film had its debut at the Venice Film Festival and was well-received, praising Seyfried’s performance. The film is set to release during this holiday season.
What’s Shaking
In the film, Seyfried will star as Ann Lee; this film is a musical drama about the founder of a radical religious movement that began in the latter half of the 1700s, known as the Shakers. The film will follow the unruly acts of the leader who embraced gender and social balance, and believed that she was the female second coming of Christ. Victimized for her form of worship and opposing the ideologies created by the church, she left England for America with a group of worshipers, where she continued her journey to usher people into the Shaker movement.
The film will also star Thomasin McKenzie (Last Night in Soho), Lewis Pullman (Top Gun: Maverick), Tim Blake Nelson (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), Christopher Abbot (It Comes at Night), and Stacy Martin (The Night House). The film will feature more than a handful of original shaker hymns, which will transcend into euphoric gestures and a score by Oscar-winning composer Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist).
The Team
Mona Fastvold (The World to Come) co-wrote the film with her three-time Oscar-nominated partner Brady Corbet (The Brutalist) while producing it with him as well. The two most recently helmed The Brutalist (directed by Corbet and produced and co-written by Fastvold), a nearly 4-hour epic, which was picked up by A24 out of the Venice Film Festival last year and gained 10 Oscar nominations. This time, Fastvold is directing while Corbet will take a back seat and serve as the producer and co-writer. Just like The Brutalist, the film cost between $10 million and $11 million while being acquired.
Watch The Testament of Ann Lee when it is released in select theaters on December 25 with a 70mm cut!
The Testament of Ann Lee (2025) Official Flickfeed Trailer
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Elke Simmons' writing portfolio includes contributions to The Laredo Morning Times, Walt Disney World Eyes and Ears, Extinction Rebellion (XR) News/Blog, and Dead Talk News.