Mona Fastvold – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE – Review by Diane Carson

January 8, 2026 Diane Carson amanda seyfried, Blumberg, Brady Corbet, Celia Rowlson-Hall, Daniel Blumberg, Mona Fastvold, shaker religious sect, The Testament of Ann Lee, thomasin mckenzie

Conventional expectations for a film historically detailing the establishment of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known in the U.S. as the Shakers, will be upended in director Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee. Set in the eighteenth century, chronicling the origins of this devotional sect might suggest a reverential, somber mood. However, as appropriate for the Shakers’ rapturous spiritual expression, Fastvold’s choices deliver a wildly animated, even at times raucous, musical interpretation of the catalyst for and realization of Shakers fervor.

Reviews

THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE – Review by Susan Granger

January 6, 2026January 8, 2026 Susan Granger amanda seyfried, Blumberg, Brady Corbet, Celia Rowlson-Hall, Daniel Blumberg, Mona Fastvold, shaker religious sect, The Testament of Ann Lee, thomasin mckenzie

In the titular role, Amanda Seyfried delivers a radiant, remarkable performance in The Testament of Ann Lee, although the linear biographical musical lacks emotional resonance.Intrigued by the 18th century religious leader who founded the Shaker sect and was falsely accused of witchcraft and treason, filmmaker Mona Fastvold chronicles the rise and fall of this admittedly remarkable woman.

Reviews

THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE – Review by Betsy Pickle

December 17, 2025January 8, 2026 Betsy Pickle amanda seyfried, Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold, Scott Handy, Stacy Martin, The Testament of Ann Lee

Director Mona Fastvold and her co-screenwriter, Brady Corbet, elaborate on historic facts by reverse-engineering the precepts of Ann Lee, a British-born woman whose perceived communications from God led her to establish what became known as the Shakers. Far from being a dry account of olden times, it’s an assault on the senses and emotions. Brutal violence and male-dominating sexuality are on full display. Strains of impending terror run throughout. Even the spirituality is full of noise and power, shrieking and loud singing. Ann is a big believer in prayer, but her faith has force – and elaborate dances. (There’s a reason they’re called Shakers.)

Festivals

FALL FESTIVAL PREVIEW 2025 – Christina Jeurling Birro reports

July 29, 2025August 3, 2025 Christina Jeurling Birro Agnieszka Holland, chloe zhao, fall film festivals, Kaouther Ben Hania, kathryn bigelow, laura poitras, Mona Fastvold, nia dacosta, scarlett johansson, sofia coppola, toronto international film festival, Venice International Film Festival

Bigelow’s back, Zhao tackles Shakespeare, and More as the fall film festivals unveil their lineups. The fall film festival season kicks off on the Lido in Venice in less than a month, then rolls on from the mountains of Telluride to Toronto, and beyond. This year promises a strong showing from female directors across many lineups. Here are just a few of the exciting films to keep your eyes on!

SPOTLIGHT

SPOTLIGHT March 2025: Mona Fastvold, Filmmaker, Oscar Contender, THE BRUTALIST

March 1, 2025March 4, 2025 Christina Jeurling Birro best original screenplay, Brady Corbet, Christopher Abbott, female directors, female screenwriters, Mona Fastvold, oscars 2025, Sondre Lerche, spotlight, The Brutalist, The Sleepwalker, vox lux

2025 not only elevates Fastvold into Hollywood’s Oscar pantheon, this year will see the release of a new feature, a femme-centric truth-based musical biopic about Ann Lee, the leading founder of the Shaker movement, who was proclaimed the female Christ by her followers. Again, Fastvold and Brady Corbet collaborated on the script, but this time she is directing and he is credited as a producer. Amanda Seyfried stars in the titular role, and the ensemble includes Christopher Abbott and Tim Blake Nelson. Working in an equal and ongoing filmmaking partnership with Brady Corbet, Mona Fastwold is utilizing the full repertoire of her talents and skills to take full command of her career. The AWFJ March 2025 SPOTLIGHT is on Mona, and we look forward to experiencing more of the Fastvold cinematic universe!

Reviews

THE BRUTALIST – Review by Susan Granger

January 24, 2025January 25, 2025 Susan Granger adrien brody, Bauhaus, Brady Corbet, felicity jones, Guy Pearce, László Toth, Lol Crawley, Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist, VistaVision

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist is 3 1/2 hours long with an intermission, making it the first film to have an interval since Gandhi (1982). It’s a compelling immigrant tale with Oscar nominee Adrien Brody delivering one of the best performances of the year as Lazlo Toth, a renowned Hungarian Jewish architect whose vulnerability leads to addiction. The film’s audacious themes cover individualism vs. capitalism, creativity vs. compromise, and immigration vs. assimilation – citing Israel as the Jews’ homeland – closing with an epilogue about an architectural aesthetic surreptitiously reverberating from the past.

Reviews

THE BRUTALIST – Review by Diane Carson

January 5, 2025January 5, 2025 Diane Carson adrien brody, Bauhaus, Brady Corbet, felicity jones, Guy Pearce, László Toth, Lol Crawley, Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist, VistaVision

Director Brady Corbet plunges into the phenomenal life of László Toth with a confrontational metaphor. In 1947, WWII Buchenwald survivor László arrives in New York, jostled from the darkness below deck to the light of the harbor. Craning his head to see, the Statue of Liberty appears upside down and sideways. Corbet thereby announces the multifaceted challenge to the American dream that The Brutalist will present, hope colliding with religion, capitalism, and power struggles. The Brutalist is a towering achievement that pinpoints ills still immensely relevant today: anti-immigrant prejudice, anti-Semitism, predatory capitalism, patrons’ exploitation of genius, loneliness, drug use, and protracted, post-war physical and emotional damage. Our American experiment is and always was ever at risk.

Reviews

THE WORLD TO COME – Review by Martha K Baker

February 22, 2021February 22, 2021 Martha K. Baker (Archived Contributor) Katherine Waterston, Mona Fastvold, the world to come, vanessa kirby

Abigail’s journal begins on Jan. 1, 1856: “With little pride and less hope, we begin a new year.” Her soft, plain voice, intoning her written words aloud, drives The World to Come as surely as the hand-lettered dates on its pages. The film is beautiful, sad, historical, and hopeful. As the title suggests, Heaven, the world to come, holds hope for women like Abigail. She milks the cows, kneads the biscuits, feeds the chickens, knits. Grieving the loss of her daughter to diphtheria, she withholds herself from her dominant husband’s desires.