vox lux – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

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

VOX LUX- Review by Susan Granger

December 15, 2018December 15, 2018 Susan Granger 0 Comments natalie portman, vox lux

This garish, gaudy mess of a musical melodrama begins on Staten Island in 1999, when teenage Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) sustains a life-threatening spinal injury as she tries to talk down the shooter during a harrowing massacre at her school. Comforted by her older, more talented sister Eleanor (Stacy Martin), Celeste is understandably traumatized. Working through PTSD, they write “Wrapped Up,” a tribute ballad, mourning the tragic violence. When their song goes viral, they’re courted by a sleazy manager (Jude Law) who seems both paternal and predatory.