The Testomony of Ann Lee is the anticipated return of filmmaking duo Fastvold and her associate Brady Corbet. Fastvold and Corbet wrote Ann Lee collectively, like they beforehand did with 2024’s The Brutalist, which was directed by Corbert and went on to win three Academy Awards. Utilizing some actual Shakers music, Ann Lee is a type of distinctive film musical.
Thus, it options music composed by the Oscar-winning Daniel Blumberg and choreography by Celia Rowlson-Corridor. Additionally starring Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Stacy Martin, Tim Blake Nelson, and Christopher Abbott, The Testomony of Ann Lee at the moment holds a 100% critics’ approval score on Rotten Tomatoes, aggregated from 11 evaluations.
Critics have largely constructive issues to say about Ann Lee’s daring genre-bending and execution. Damon Clever of Deadline Hollywood Each day, as an example, says: “Though she’s clearly some kind of fruitcake, Ann has optimism, compassion and life, which Fastvold reveals in a series of mesmerizing musical numbers taken from real Shaker scriptures.”
Then again, David Ehrlich of IndieWire means that that is even a case for extra motion pictures like this: “In a sense, The Testament of Ann Lee is a celebration of — and then in its less rhapsodic second half, a plea for — the conditions required to make a movie like The Testament of Ann Lee.”
What These Opinions Imply For The Testomony Of Ann Lee
Comparisons to The Brutalist are inevitable… The free-range majesty and fine-grained, muddy-fingernailed element of Fastvold’s movie, although, is fully its personal factor: like Ann, I used to be left wobbly and breathless by its grandeur and nerve.
Up to now, Ann Lee’s most important rivals at Venice have not been capable of match it: The Smashing Machine made a splash, but it surely did not obtain the coveted excellent rating, whereas Julia Roberts’ After the Hunt debuted with an underwhelming rating. Although some critics seem confused by it, they nonetheless reward Ann Lee, which is able to permit it to go far.
Our Take On The Testomony Of Ann Lee’s RT Rating
Mona Fastvold, Amanda Seyfried, 82nd Venice Worldwide Movie Competition – ‘The Testomony Of Ann Lee’ Photocall
Dave Bedrosian/Future Picture/Cowl Photographs
Whereas nothing is ready in stone but for Ann Lee — solely 11 individuals have gotten to evaluation it — it has garnered plenty of consideration that can construct anticipation for it at further movie festivals and a theatrical launch. How normal audiences react to this film will decide what it in the end turns into within the zeitgeist slightly than simply its important standing.
Given its musical premise, it might be a well-liked trendy traditional. 2025 additionally appears to be an important 12 months for motion pictures that experiment with style. Whereas I might nonetheless say that the historic semi-musical motion horror Sinners has a greater shot at Greatest Image than The Testomony of Ann Lee, it is great to see the trade being receptive to completely different tasks.
The Testomony of Ann Lee
8/10
Launch Date
September 1, 2025
Runtime
130 minutes
Director
Mona Fastvold
Writers
Brady Corbet
Producers
Viktória Petrányi, Lillian LaSalle, Megan Ellison, Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska, Patrick Chu, Joshua Horsfield, Adam Paulsen, Andrew Morrison, Mark Lampert, Kyle Stroud, Scott Aharoni, Saskia Gigi Duff, Michael D’Alto, Tom Ogden
