After the death of all her children, Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried) becomes a central figure in a new Christian cult in Manchester that subsequently brings her and her fellow Shakers on a difficult journey to America in 1774.

A cruel, fact-based tale of faith and survival, both spiritual and physical, treated as a musical, daringly enough, with hymns and chants that reflect longing, grief, piety – and the kind of mystique that’s part of speaking in tongues. That’s where we find the film’s emotional core, and Seyfried is outstanding in the lead.

However, a glum and grim tone becomes almost too much to bear at times.

2026-U.S.-U.K. 137 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Mona Fastvold. Screenplay: Mona Fastvold, Brady Corbet. Cinematography: William Rexer. Music: Daniel Blumberg. Cast: Amanda Seyfried (Ann Lee), Lewis Pullman (William Lee), Thomasin McKenzie (Mary Partington), Matthew Beard, Christopher Abbott, Viola Prettejohn, Tim Blake Nelson. 

Trivia: Co-produced by Fastvold and Corbet.