Fastvold links Lee’s belief that intercourse, even in marriage, was the reason for humankind’s separation from God, with a modern understanding of abuse, trauma and emotional breakdown.

To depict ecstatic religious fervour in a way that allows a cinema audience to feel the experience for themselves is no mean feat. In The Testament of Ann Lee, writer-director Mona Fastvold chose to com bine an episodic account of the life of “Mother” Ann Lee, the founder of the Shakers, with an immersive song-and-dance musical, thus putting their rhapsodic worship at the heart of the story. Many of the songs are based on original Shaker hymns, and the intense and colourful dance numbers, by choreographer Celia Rowlson-Hall, capture the passion and physical abandonment of their spiritual practice. Yet despite a raw and stirring performance by Amanda Seyfried as Ann Lee, the film still seems to keep us at arm’s length.

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