In “The Testament of Ann Lee,” two young Shakers, disciples of revolutionary preacher Mother Ann’s teachings, fail to obey their leader’s primary command: Celibacy. Fresh-faced and newly in love, with not much else to look forward to in a dark, gloomy 18th century New York City, the pair sneak off into a wooden outhouse and commit their religion’s holy sin. Their prophet, the woman who brought Shakerism from Manchester, England all the way to the American colonies in 1774, played by Amanda Seyfried, learns of the insubordination. There is no flagellation, no words of fury or punishment. Just a calm instruction that the young couple must now leave her burgeoning church. “I’m very interested in that,” said the film’s director Mona…
