I saw this film again and it actually got better: 'The Testament of Ann Lee' | BFI London Film Festival 2025

You can read my first review of Ann Lee here.

There is already so much I've said about the richness of the film-making on display by Mona Fastvold on 70mm - a soundtrack I am desperate to own on Vinyl, a visual language so dense and detailed that it gives the affect of a passion project that has sat in a journal for 25 years, and performances with such commitment and dedication that I found myself frozen in awe at many moments.

As you may already know, reader, I didn't end up watching the end of the film at TIFF, as I had to cover a Red Carpet. At LFF, I finally got the chance – the film didn't change, only increased in my estimation.

This is a story about how pacifism is political. How gender, race, religion are all precursors for violence, and how the denial of that violence is a radical act. However, the story opens up further, like a deep network of roots underground, the more you observe.

At its core, it's about Ann and William - brother and sister - and a bond that traversed Heaven and Earth. If you read both of them as Lesbian and Gay, before there were ever a term, you will find much richness, and some blatant canon evidence, to support you. The queer aspects were apparent on first watch, but became ever more cemented on second watch, and no doubt yet more themes would emerge the more I watched the film.

Shakers and Quakers alike will love how delicately the film was made, how it honours and also candidly explores and depicts their early leadership at a time of great danger. It also leaves room for analysis - of the faith and its leaders - as either miraculous or delusional. Much like the faith, it asks you to come to your own conclusions.

I've always wanted to watch Vox Lux but never did - now that I'm a die hard Mona Fastvold fan, I simply must, no?