"The Testament of Ann Lee" To Arrive on Digital Platforms Next Month

The critically acclaimed film from Searchlight Pictures, The Testament of Ann Lee, is ready to arrive on most Digital Platforms in the coming days.

What’s Happening: 

• Searchlight Pictures’ The Testament of Ann Lee, from award-winning writer-director Mona Fastvold, is arriving in modern times on digital platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home.
•  Based on a true legend, The Testament of Ann Lee depicts the story of the founder of the devotional sect known as the Shakers.
• Amanda Seyfried stars as the Shaker’s revered, irrepressible leader who preaches gender and social equality. With reimagined Shaker hymns, the film captures Lee’s ecstasy and agony in her quest to build a utopia.
• Fastvold happened upon Shaker hymns which led her to resurrect the story of Ann Lee, a figure so strong yet surprisingly unsung as a “wild feminist religious leader in late 1700s America.” 
• Written by Fastvold and Brady Corbet, The Testament of Ann Lee has earned praise on the film festival circuit and received numerous award nominations including from the Golden Globes for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, and from the Critics Choice Association. 
• The Testament of Ann Lee has also been venerated by a Rotten Tomatoes 87% Certified Fresh rating, with critics praising its bold storytelling and evocative performances. You can find out what we thought of the film in our review of The Testament of Ann Lee. 
• The film also stars Thomasin Mckenzie, Lewis Pullman, Stacy Martin, with Tim Blake Nelson, and Christopher Abbott.
• The Testament of Ann Lee arrives on Digital with bonus extras on March 10.

Bonus Feature:

• The Testament of Ann Lee: A Special Look - Join filmmakers and cast members - including director/co-writer Mona Fastvold and actor Amanda Seyfried - for a behind-the-scenes look at making this original film about compassion, empathy, community and one woman’s charismatic leadership in founding the Shaker movement. Learn details about the research, set design, cinematography, choreography, music and costume design that create the film’s spellbinding and extraordinary look and feel.

What They’re Saying: 

• Mona Fastvold: “For me, being an artist is always about striving to create the impossible – that’s what drew me to Ann Lee. This film is offered as a tribute to her dream – and the silence that now surrounds it.”

The Source Material: 

• A bit of background: Ann Lee (1736–1784) was the founder and spiritual leader of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers. She was born in Manchester, England, and is often referred to by her followers as Mother Ann. 
• The group came about when Lee was dissatisfied with the established Church of England, and she became involved in a small radical religious group that emphasized direct revelation and ecstatic worship. This group eventually evolved into the Shaker movement.
• The Shakers’ name came from their ecstatic style of worship, in which they would shake, dance, sing, and speak in tongues as expressions of divine inspiration. 
• In 1774, Lee and a small group of followers emigrated to New York, seeking religious freedom. They established their first community at Watervliet, near Albany. Ann Lee’s charisma and message attracted converts, especially after the American Revolution, when many were searching for new spiritual meaning.
• Today, only a handful of Shakers remain, primarily at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in Maine, which is still an active religious community.