The Testament of Ann Lee to Debut in Theaters This Christmas
Searchlight Pictures has announced that it will release director Mona Fastvold’s historical drama musical, The Testament of Ann Lee, in select 70mm theaters on December 25. Searchlight acquired distribution rights to the movie earlier this week.
From award-winning writer-director Mona Fastvold (The World to Come, The Brutalist) comes the extraordinary true legend of Ann Lee, founder of the religious sect known as the Shakers.
Academy Award-nominee Amanda Seyfried stars as the Shakers’ irrepressible leader, who espoused gender and social equality while believing herself to be the female incarnation of Christ. The Testament of Ann Lee thrillingly imagines the ecstasy and agony of Ann Lee and her followers’ conviction and commitment to her own vision of utopia.
More than a dozen original Shaker hymns are transformed into ecstatic “movements,” featuring choreography from Celia Rowlson-Hall (Vox Lux) and music by Academy Award-winning composer Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist).
Fastvold co-wrote the screenplay with Brady Corbet. In addition to Amanda Seyfried (The Housemaid), the film also stars Thomasin McKenzie (Joy), Lewis Pullman (Thunderbolts*), Tim Blake Nelson (Captain America: Brave New World), and Christopher Abbott (Kraven the Hunter).
The Testament of Ann Lee had its world premiere in the main competition of the 82nd Venice International Film Festival on September 1, 2025, where it was nominated for the Golden Lion.
“Our film is a speculative retelling of the life of Ann Lee, one of the few female religious leaders of the 18th century,” said Mona Fastvold in a statement to the Venice International Film Festival. “She and her followers, known as the Shakers, worshipped through ecstatic song and movement — trembling, exuberant, and physically expressive acts of devotion.
“I was raised in a secular household, and yet Ann Lee’s prophecies — however implausible — moved me deeply. Not because I share her faith, but because I recognise in her a yearning for justice, transcendence, and communal grace.
“Her radical pursuit of a self-fashioned utopia speaks to the creative impulse at the heart of all artistic endeavour: the urgent need to shape the world anew. In particular, her clarity of vision and ability to guide others toward a shared ideal recalls the collaborative spirit that underpins any creative undertaking — whether composing a symphony, building a building, or making a film.
“Each discipline is defined by the same striving: the search for moments of grace. This film is offered as a tribute to her dream — and the silence that now surrounds it.”
The movie was produced by Andrew Morrison, Joshua Horsfield, Viktória Petrányi, Mona Fastvold, Brady Corbet, Gregory Jankilevitsch, Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska, Lillian LaSalle, and Mark Lampert.
