A film about faith and other leaps, Mona Fastvold’s remarkable The Testament of Ann Lee does not ask us to endorse or embrace the tenets of the 18th-century English sect called United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Coming, aka Shaking Quakers, aka the Shakers. Given that an important principle of co-founder Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried) was celibacy, many viewers would find that a bridge too far.
Several of the Shakers’ other core values, like cooperation, collaboration, ecstasy and equality among genders resonate clearly, especially for anyone who can recall the Northern California communes of the 1960s and 70s. The pleasure and power of The Testament of Ann Lee (opening Jan. 23), though, is not to be found in the utopian speeches but in surrendering to the selfless exhibition of true believers believing. If you are willing to be entranced — to accede from time to time to a trance state — you will have a uniquely thrilling time at the movies.
The story opens in the 1740s in Manchester, England, where the child Ann labors in a textile factory. As she grows up, her spiritual journey takes her to Jane and James Wardley (Stacy Martin and Scott Handy), through whose fervid Quaker prayer group she meets her husband Abraham Standerin (Christopher Abbott) and develops her specific philosophy.
Marriage brings physical and psychic pain, and Ann’s crucible is further forged in the fire of family tragedy. Even as she is accepted by many of the Wardley circle and her stalwart brother William (Lewis Pullman) as the true leader, Mother Ann (as she is now called) captures the unwelcome attention of the powers-that-be and is incarcerated for a couple weeks.
The Shakers’ saga comes into focus as a familiar dynamic of nonconformity and determination, fueled by the certainty of religious faith, running into both official and street opposition, with blood being spilled. We judge for ourselves how much of the animosity is an overreaction to noisy praying and how much is fear and hatred of a powerful woman.
