Biopic. Depicts Ann Lee’s attempt to establish a utopian society, and pictures the Shakers’ worship through song and dance, based on real events. Amanda Seyfried did her own singing for the role.
Per Wikipedia:
Ann Lee, commonly known as Mother Ann Lee, was a founding leader of the Shakers, later changed to United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing following her death. She was born during a time of the Evangelical revival in England, and became a figure that greatly influenced religion at this time, especially in the Americas.
What it basically boils down to is that being a member if their religion is like being trapped permanently in a road show production of “Mamma Mia,” which is potentially the scariest possible episode of The Twilight Zone.
By 1920, there were only 12 Shaker communities remaining in the United States. As of 2019, there was only one active Shaker village: Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, in Maine, which is nearly as old as America itself. As of August 2025, there were three members. (The number had fallen to two, but they picked up a convert!)
It’s not surprising the religion disappeared, since they believe in celibacy. They produce no children, so existing members die off without passing the faith to any offspring (although they did adopt children), and their rustic, asexual life attracts few converts in the modern world.
IMDb: 7.0
Metacritic: 80
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Popcorn Meter: 82%
Ananda Seyfried was nominated for a Golden Globe.
Amanda Seyfried divulged that she wore a merkin and a “prosthetic butthole” for the nude scenes.
This movie, it needed to be graphic. So, like, I had a prosthetic butthole. I felt so free.
I would appear that she also used a prosthetic breast for the feeding scene, and prosthetic genitalia for the birthing scene. There was also some real nudity in there somewhere.
Has it been released digitally somewhere then if it opens Christmas?
No.
Apparently it was exposed accidentally by somebody who didn’t guard a private account properly. The reviews are based on festival screenings.
Oh my god, what a mess… someone’s going to get fired lol. But did the whole movie leak or just some scenes? I ask this because the frontal nudity scene that was reported by some people and is in the official MPA rating itself didn’t leak in those videos and images….
I have not seen the full film in any of the usual places.
Ann Lee was ONE of the founding members of the Shakers. The Society was actually founded by Mother Jane Wardley around 1747 when she and her husband James left the Quakers for, among other reasons, their lack of actual quaking. Ann Lee joined the Society about 10 years later and quickly became a leading member.
There are still 2 living shakers at their community in Maine. Last year they celebrated the 250th anniversary of Ann Lee and her followers arriving in America. It is not known when Jane Wardley died, the Shakers did not believe in giving their dead individual tombstones. She is not believed to be among those who emigrated to America.
Apparently they made an exception to that gravestone rule for Ann
I am always down to watch Amanda minus clothing, and with clothing too for that matter.
Holy sweet jeebus haven’t had a good look at that butt (outside fappening) since that Chloe with Julianne Moore SIXTEEN YEARS AGO, we are eating good this fall – wild how we’ve mostly had shit cam of the J. Law movie but this leak is practically immaculate
This played the Denver Film Fest last weekend, and it was … ok? I guess?
Made by the same couple that wrote last years ”The Brutalist’, with her directing this one, him directing Brutalist. it’s heavily symbolic in both story and book (it’s partially a musical. But only partially…)
Yeah, if that doesn’t sound good, trust those instincts. Glad I saw it – an interesting art house diversion.
I loved Poor Things & Die My Love, thought The Substance was stupid – reviews are reviews, I log on here for the nudity
I don’t know where that picture of Ann Lee came from (AI Generated?) but there wasn’t photography during her lifetime. She died in 1784.
True. I thought of that, but I assumed it was a realistic portrait. It turns out it was neither. When I saw your note, I decided to fact-check it. That was actually a picture of Anna White, another famous Shaker from nearly a century later. The source confused the two famous Shakers with similar names.
If I remember correctly, wasn’t she more or less non-binary and possibly secretly Trans? Or am I thinking of another early religious female leader?
Well, she did have four children. None of them lived past infancy.
Meanwhile Amanda herself has had 2 kids.
That is one hell of a dead beaver for a merkin. Also, prosthetic butthole?