Amanda Seyfried was overwhelmed with emotion when her new film, The Testament of Ann Lee, directed by Mona Fastvold, received a 15-minute standing ovation in Venice—surpassing Frankenstein as the longest at the festival to date.

Co-writer Brady Corbet entertained the audience while Amanda Seyfried, with tears in her eyes, raised her fists in the air as the applause continued for seven minutes. Fasold, co-writer of last year's Silver Lion winner and three-time Oscar winner The Brutalist, smiled at the audience, buoyed by the thunderous reception. In the eighth minute, Amanda whispered to no one in particular: "What should we do now?"

Most of the audience in the stalls began to disperse after ten minutes, but the balcony — packed with crew members and potential buyers — continued to applaud. Corbett and Fastvold left the hall before the ovation had completely died down.

"I think people liked it," Seyfried told Variety as she left the theater.

Amanda plays the lead role of Ann Lee, and Lewis Pullman plays her brother William Lee. The cast also includes Thomasin McKenzie, Stacy Martin, Tim Blake Nelson, Christopher Abbott, and Matthew Beard.

The film has been described as an "epic parable" — a speculative account of Lee's life as one of the few female religious leaders of the 18th century and the founding of the Shaker movement. Having emigrated from England and initially settled in New York, the Shakers were known for their ecstatic behavior during worship, their practice of celibacy, and their simple communal lifestyle. Due to their abstemious lifestyle, the movement has since died down and today there are only three members left.

Although the film is not a musical, Seyfried sings in it, and the music is by composer Daniel Blumberg, who won an Oscar for The Brutalist. Regarding her singing in the film, the actress told Variety: "Part of it wasn't singing. There's no such thing! Anti-singing? A lot of it was animal sounds, not melodic. And it was less about listening to myself." | BGNES