NEED TO KNOW
Amanda Seyfried and Lewis Pullman star in the first trailer for The Testament of Ann Lee
Seyfried portrays 18th century English religious leader Ann Lee, who was the founder of a Christian sect known as the Shakers
The Testament of Ann Lee is in theaters Dec. 25
Amanda Seyfried is transforming for her other holiday movie release this year.
On Thursday, Nov. 6, Searchlight Pictures shared the trailer for Seyfried’s new movie The Testament of Ann Lee, which an official synopsis describes as “the extraordinary true legend of Ann Lee, founder of the devotional sect known as the Shakers.”
“Seyfried stars as the Shaker’s irrepressible leader, who preached gender and social equality and was revered by her followers,” the synopsis reads. “The Testament of Ann Lee captures the ecstasy and agony of her quest to build a utopia, featuring more than a dozen traditional Shaker hymns reimagined as rapturous movements.”
The movie comes from writer-director Mona Fastvold, who cowrote 2024’sThe Brutalist with her partner Brady Corbet; that movie won three Academy Awards in March, and Fastvold, 44, cowrote the new movie with Corbet, 37, as well. The film also features original music from The Brutalist’s composer Daniel Blumberg.
Searchlight Pictures
Amanda Seyfried in The Testament of Ann Lee
The Testament of Ann Lee premiered at the Venice International Film Festival on Sep. 1. The movie received at 15-minute standing ovation following its world premiere, and footage from the premiere that Variety shared showed Seyfried growing emotional at the film’s reception.
“It’s incredibly hard to channel that kind of grief when that is your biggest fear, for sure,” Seyfried said of the movie when she caught up with PEOPLE at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 7. Seyfried spoke to the real-life Ann Lee’s experience losing all of her children at a young age, which influenced her religious views.
“But what I did, what I think really helped … is that I was honoring everybody who had lost and honoring that grief which made Ann, then brought her to her knees,” Seyfried said at the time. “So if you’re going to show that graphically, you have to go all the way with it.”
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Searchlight Pictures
Amanda Seyfried in The Testament of Ann Lee
Thomasin Mckenzie, Lewis Pullman, Stacy Martin, Matthew Beard, Scott Handy, Viola Prettejohn, Jamie Bogyo, David Cale, Tim Blake Nelson and Christopher Abbott also star in the film.
The Testament of Ann Lee is in theaters Dec. 25. Seyfried’s other movie release this winter, The Housemaid, hits theaters Dec. 19.
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