Nate At The Movies

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

Morgan and I (mostly I) made the questionable decision earlier this week to go see The Testament of Ann Lee in the opening stages of Texas’ yearly “winter storm to end all winter storms” today, but we dodged all the bad stuff. It was only moderately raining as we both entered and left the theater today for a movie that had me seated and my jaw unexpectedly on the floor pretty routinely.

The little I knew about The Testament of Ann Lee going in today was that Amanda Seyfried was a religious leader songbird directed by the same team behind The Brutalist, and that was enough for me to buy a ticket. I’ll start with Seyfried, because she bodied this super difficult role. The character demanded such a physical presence and fervor, and Seyfried came to play. Her emotional range and great voice were on full display throughout, too, and it’s a huge shame that the Academy didn’t look her way yesterday. I would’ve taken her outstanding performance over Kate Hudson’s any day, and I say that as someone who enjoyed Hudson’s performance. Seyfried was just that impactful.

The story of Ann Lee—one that I didn’t even question the truth of until about an hour in (I thought it was made up!)—was about as crazy as the Shaker movement. I would be lying if I didn’t say I was often mesmerized by what was unfolding on screen, from the intricate musical and dance sequences to the super pretty cinematography and what I think were hand painted backdrops? Practical effects for the win! I was also captivated by the Shakers’ quest for religious freedom and salvation, and even though I didn’t agree with all of their practices, it was cool to learn that there was a group of 1700s radicals that heralded women in positions of religious power and denounced slavery. The film was also relentlessly intense, both in its happier moments and its scarier ones, which kept me strapped in for its entire runtime (save my quick bathroom trip).

More than both the story and Amanda Seyfried, though, was I transfixed by the music. I loved Daniel Blumberg’s score for The Brutalist, but the combination of score and reworked Shaker hymns here may have The Brutalist beat. I don’t think I had heard a score predominated by harps and handbells until today, but it totally rocked, and almost every song sat on a spectrum from good to transcendent. The two that have stuck with me since leaving the theater are “Beautiful Treasures” and “Hunger & Thirst” (my fave at the moment) because of their shared ability to not only isolate Seyfried’s beautiful vocals, but to crescendo to huge, beautiful, choral finishes. The “Hunger & Thirst” scene was my favorite in the entire movie, or at least it will be until I watch this again. I was legitimately moved.

The Testament of Ann Lee looked to be a real Nate movie even before I watched it because of how many boxes it was checking. Amanda Seyfried? Check. Religious story? Check. Pseudo-musical with rich harmonies? Check! With so much going for it before it even started, I’m surprised by how The Testament of Ann Lee still surpassed those expectations, and it may end up sitting as one of the best movies of 2025 for me. Alongside KPop Demon Hunters, Little Amélie, and F1, it undoubtedly will sit as one of the biggest surprises of the year, and I can’t wait to revisit it (and recommend it to my entire church-going family).