Directed By: Mona Fastvold
Written By: Mona Fastvold And Brady Corbet
Cinematography: William Rexer
Editor: Sofia Subercaseaux
Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Lewis Pullman, Thomasin Mckenzie, Christopher Abbott, Matthew Beard, Stacy Martin, Tim Blake Nelson, Daniel Blumberg, David Cale, Viola Prettejohn
Ann Lee, the founding leader of the Shaker Movement, is proclaimed as the female Christ by her followers. This film depicts her establishment of a utopian society and the Shakers’ worship through song and dance, based on real events.
This is a hard film to quite get your head around.
Though it definitely makes an impression. As it is an epic done on a budget, but still manages to be quite illustrious throughout even when it seems like it’s not doing that much or playing it basic at times.
Which showcases limitation, but works for the time the story is set in when the world and society was still building itself.
The film is a musical and the religious choreography, testimonial music score and movements are great. Which is what keeps a captivating and keeps your interest as it might not have been as magical if it had played as a straight drama. It might’ve felt more like a prestige film rather than something of its own concoction while trying to tell a true story.
The film gets matters of the flesh out of the way early, so that while that theme is always in the background, it’s not as heavily a focus, and once the lead character played by Amanda Seyfried goes all in with her religion and beliefs. We don’t get to see any really again, it’s more hinted at or implied, but never seen until when the film needs to be brutal.
One can see this from getting more of an audience as more people discovered it through word-of-mouth as it might not be perfect, but it certainly is interesting and never boring
Amanda Seyfried in the lead is strong and memorable. One of her strongest performance is so far as it seems like with each new passing year and each new project she does get stronger as an actress and more captivating to see with her range.
Christopher abbot plays another terrible character. Which at this point he seems to have cornered the market on. When not playing leading roles.
The film ends brutally as that seems to be the case when it comes to most films, depicting religion or even religious ones as usually we know how they will end. It’s all in how he get there.
What keeps this from exciting is that you Never quite know where it’s going so it manages to be quite an Odyssey in of itself. Even with its limited surroundings.
Looking forward to more films from this filmmaker.
Grade: B+
