The Testament of Ann Lee is a religious text in cinematic form. 

Thomasin McKenzie’s voiceover contextualizes this new movie as a Shaker version of a New Testament Gospel, a self-conscious attempt to use narrative to deify the protagonist.

As such, the storytelling periodically rejects the dramatic virtues of what audiences expect from a movie. 

Because gospels operate differently than screenplays. 

To wit, the character of Ann Lee retains Jesus’ enigmatic distance, a gap bridged by consideration of the orator’s agenda.