15-Minute Standing Ovation for The Testament of Ann Lee at Venice Film Festival, 100% on Rotten Tomatoes
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, the 15-minute standing ovation for The Testament of Ann Lee at the 82nd Venice Film Festival moved Amanda Seyfried to tears. The musical, which broke this year’s record for the longest ovation, received a 76% score on Metacritic and a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Mona Fastvold, writer of The Brutalist, which won the Silver Lion last year, directed the film.
The film is described as “an epic fable” about Ann Lee, the religious leader and founder of the Shaker movement. “Mother Ann Lee” was born in England in 1736 and migrated to New York in 1774 with a small group of followers. Called the “female Christ,” she established one of the largest utopian communities in American history. The worship of Ann Lee and her followers was marked by passionate hymns and dances. The cast also includes Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Christopher Abbott, Tim Blake Nelson, and Stacy Martin.
Variety reported that after 10 minutes of applause, many audience members left the theater, but others in the balcony, including potential buyers and additional crew members, continued clapping. As she left, Seyfried said: “I think they really liked it.”
Deadline wrote: “The Testament of Ann Lee is like a bright yin to the dark yang of [The Brutalist], telling a similar yet warmer story of chaotic genius, social torment, and escape.”
Vogue also compared The Testament of Ann Lee to The Brutalist: “Both are very long – but Ann Lee, admirably, is nearly an hour and a half shorter than The Brutalist – and it begins powerfully before ultimately losing its way in the final act.”
Variety noted that Fastvold’s film is “respectable and intellectually strange, though its theatrical aspects may weaken over the course of its 136 minutes.”
The Guardian gave the film three out of five stars, writing: “At times it resembles a Lars von Trier-esque nightmare testimony, or a horror film by Robert Eggers like The Witch, and then at other times a spectacular yet odd Broadway-style melodramatic musical.”
A Variety critic gave the film an A- grade, writing: “In some ways, The Testament of Ann Lee is a celebration—and in its less thrilling second half, a plea—for the conditions necessary to make films like this possible.”
