--- title: "The Testament of Ann Lee: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-testament-of-ann-lee/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-testament-of-ann-lee" critics_score: 78 critics_reviews: 18 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Testament of Ann Lee (2025): what the critics said Critics' score 78 from 18 reviews: 15 positive, 2 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics are won over, and the praise gathers in two places: the worship sequences, with their hymns and choreography, and Amanda Seyfried’s performance as Ann Lee, which several reviews describe as physical, primal and fully committed. The word strange recurs, nearly always as a compliment; the film is treated as a musical unlike anything else around, and its eighteenth-century world as fully built. Reservations cluster around what happens between the songs. The New Yorker finds the plainer dramatic scenes a let-down, Screen Daily wants more character and narrative drive, and The Hollywood Reporter thinks it repeats itself and keeps Lee at arm’s length. The spread is wide for a film this well received. The Times is the one outright dissenter, finding the self-seriousness unintentionally comic. The Wrap notes the Venice premiere drew walkouts as well as applause, which is roughly the pattern the reviews since have followed. ## Little White Lies — David Jenkins Rating 4/5/5. 23 February 2026. Fastvold creates a bold and intoxicating meta-musical that chronicles Ann Lee’s life and expands the possibilities of filmed biography through its visceral, ecstatic exploration of Shaker worship and historical contradictions. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-testament-of-ann-lee) ## IndieWire — David Ehrlich Rating A-. 1 September 2025. Festival review. The critic hails the film as a rapturous, ecstatic quasi-musical that celebrates the birth of the Shaker movement through propulsive hymns and choreography, with Amanda Seyfried delivering a career-best performance as the visionary leader. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-testament-of-ann-lee-movie-review-amanda-seyfried-1235148432/) ## Evening Standard — Nick Howells Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 26 February 2026. The critic finds the film a wild, wonderful musical tribute to Ann Lee and her Shaker movement, with Fastvold delivering ecstatic song-and-dance sequences alongside darker moments of trauma and resistance. Seyfried delivers a ferociously physical, career-topping performance as the visionary leader. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-testament-of-ann-lee-film-review-amanda-seyfried-b1252387.html) ## Sight and Sound Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 26 February 2026. Mona Fastvold’s musical-biopic delivers an almost spiritual experience through Amanda Seyfried’s brilliant, primal performance as Ann Lee and its sensorial, epic style of cinema focused on ecstatic worship and personal trauma. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/testament-ann-lee-mona-fastvold-delivers-almost-spiritual-experience-this-musical-biopic) ## Vulture — Bilge Ebiri Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 25 December 2025. The critic calls the film one of the strangest and most singular musicals ever made, praising its immersive 18th-century world, hybrid choreography blending traditional and modern dance, emotional Shaker spirituals, and Amanda Seyfried’s intense performance that fills in emotional details despite historical gaps. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-ive-never-seen-anything-like-the-testament-of-ann-lee.html) ## Empire — Sophie Butcher Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 27 February 2026. Fastvold crafts a one-of-a-kind cinematic experience that immerses viewers in the Shakers' ecstatic worship through music and choreography adapted from real hymns. The film highlights prescient themes of equality and bodily autonomy while showcasing Seyfried's committed triple-threat performance. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-testament-of-ann-lee/) ## Los Angeles Times — Mark Olsen Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 8 January 2026. Fastvold transforms religious devotion into a physical, unusual musical through movement and song, resulting in a genuinely remarkable movie. Amanda Seyfried’s committed, resonant performance holds the ambitious film together. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2026-01-08/testament-of-ann-lee-review-amanda-seyfried-mona-fastvold) ## Time Out — Matthew Singer Rating 4/5. 27 February 2026. Strange, ravishing and rhapsodic historical folk musical that sweeps viewers up in its depiction of ecclesiastical fervor through Busby Berkeley-style dance sequences and Amanda Seyfried’s unwavering, committed performance. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-testament-of-ann-lee-review-2025) ## The New Yorker — Justin Chang Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 9 January 2026. Fastvold’s stylized musical extravaganza about Ann Lee mesmerizes with its fervent worship sequences and dance, though the more prosaic scenes disappoint. The film respects the unknowability of its protagonist while showcasing bold formal invention. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/01/19/magellan-movie-review-the-testament-of-ann-lee) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2025. Festival review. An unusual and daring but uneven musical biopic that explores the Shaker founder’s story through bold stylistic and musical choices, though it lacks sufficient character development and narrative drive to fully succeed. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-testament-of-ann-lee-review-amanda-seyfried-is-18th-century-preacher-in-audacious-musical/5208278.article) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2025. Festival review. The film is a vehement, fervent, striking but sometimes baffling drama about the historical figure of Ann Lee and the Shaker movement. It is a genuinely strange, elusive work that deploys irony while asking the audience to sympathise with its subject. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/sep/01/the-testament-of-ann-lee-review-shaker-venice-film-festival-amanda-seyfried-mona-fastvold) ## The Times — Kevin Maher Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 27 February 2026. This biopic of the English founder of the Shakers is overwhelmingly self-serious, with unintentionally hilarious results, as the film turns the ecstatic worship into something that recalls Monty Python. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/testament-of-ann-lee-review-dwsls7mvb) ## Financial Times — Danny Leigh Rating 4. 26 February 2026. Amanda Seyfried gives a performance of raw abandon as the spiritual leader of the Shaker sect in this heady if deeply self-conscious portrait. The film centres the esoteric with audience-friendly trappings but lands as a careful, tasteful halfway house. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/6a340b40-1aed-4130-8766-bc21511aa466) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney 1 September 2025. Festival review. The critic finds the film a dizzying, energetic speculative portrait of Ann Lee and the Shakers that thrums with spiritual intensity and features strong performances and rhapsodic songs, but lacks intimate insight into its protagonist and feels like a repetitive slog at times. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-testament-of-ann-lee-review-amanda-seyfried-1236358389/) ## The New York Times — Alissa Wilkinson Rating Critic’s Pick. 24 December 2025. The critic hails Mona Fastvold’s singular, astonishing biographical musical about the Shakers’ founder. Amanda Seyfried delivers an extraordinary performance that sweeps viewers into Ann Lee’s visions, pain, and joy. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/movies/the-testament-of-ann-lee-review.html) ## /Film — Chris Evangelista Rating 10/10. 18 December 2025. The critic calls it one of the best movies of the year and a unique spiritual musical that captures religious ecstasy through song and dance. Seyfried delivers the best performance of 2025 as Ann Lee. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/2054795/the-testament-of-ann-lee-review/) ## Paste Rating A-. 24 December 2025. The critic highlights the bold, disorienting musical biopic that captures how ecstatic 18th-century religious experiences felt through mesmerizing Amanda Seyfried and 70mm visuals. It ultimately finds continuity in human experience via a unique, vibrating frequency. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/amanda-seyfried/the-testament-of-ann-lee-review) ## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 2 January 2026. The critic describes a carefully crafted, serene film with exquisite cinematography and period detail that absorbs patient viewers through its reverie-like quality and respectful portrayal of the Shakers. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-testament-of-ann-lee-2025-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) ## The Skinny — Mika Morava Rating ★★★★. 16 February 2026. Fastvold treats the story of Ann Lee with respect and bright humour, painting her as coherent in turning trauma into resolute faith. Seyfried gives a stunning, wistful and sexy performance as the female Christ. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/the-testament-of-ann-lee) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 September 2025. Festival review. The critic finds the film an uncompromising, zealous historical musical that fuses form and content to portray the rise of a religious leader on her own terms, with haunting musical sequences and a devastating performance by Amanda Seyfried. It notes the work's divisive nature at Venice, with walkouts alongside applause, but expresses personal rapture at its intensity and refusal to entertain conventionally. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/the-testament-of-ann-lee-review-amanda-seyfried/) ## The Playlist — Marshall Shaffer Rating B. 1 September 2025. Festival review. The critic highlights Seyfried's human and inspiring performance grounding the parable and the visceral physicality of the Shakers' worship, while noting the film can feel slippery and inconsistent in its rapture. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/the-testament-of-ann-lee-review-a-divine-amanda-seyfried-shines-in-mona-fastvolds-musical-parable-venice-20250901/) ## Collider — Jeff Ewing 2 October 2025. Festival review. The critic praises Amanda Seyfried's exceptional, career-defining performance as the complex founder of the Shakers and the film's unique musical approach to depicting ecstatic worship and surreal elements. Some pacing and voiceover choices are noted as minor drawbacks that slightly undercut emotional impact in key scenes. [Read the review](https://collider.com/the-testament-of-ann-lee-review-amanda-seyfried/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-testament-of-ann-lee.md