Amanda Seyfried has been proving herself “mother” in the proverbial sense for years, but her forthcoming turn in Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee is perhaps the first canonical cinematic text to cement the actor’s status as literal mother. While a number of characters sing and dance in Ann Lee, the film is really Seyfried’s show, a stirring turn for a performer who charmed in both Les Misérables and the two Mamma Mia! movies. In her rendition of “Hunger & Thirst,” a traditional Shaker song arranged by the film’s composer, Daniel Blumberg, Ann pleas for salvation during one of her many moments of isolation. Seyfried’s voice rings clear like a bell in the exclusive clip below, and she moves with deliberate openness in a sequence choreographed by Celia Rowlson-Hall. The scene is both meditative and moving, as Ann finds a kind of salvation through song.
Blumberg’s score for The Brutalist had an otherworldly, industrial quality to it: all clanks and clunks against an epic backdrop of brass and percussion. Here, he opts for a softer approach, using traditional instrumentation with a swell of strings. The real instrument on display, however, is Seyfried: Whether she’s singing Joni Mitchell or ABBA or a 200-year-old song, she finds a way to make the music sound new.