Overview
- Amanda Seyfried stars in Mona Fastvold’s musical drama now in theaters, portraying the Shaker leader through ecstatic worship staged as sustained movement.
- Composer Daniel Blumberg adapts historic hymns, with a mix that preserves live breaths, footsteps, and ambient texture alongside studio recordings for an immersive soundscape.
- Choreographer Celia Rowlson-Hall developed full-film movement rooted in historical accounts, including a rigorous sequence shot on an operational 18th‑century ship in shifting weather.
- Costume designer Malgorzata “Gosia” Karpiuk built heavy, hand-finished layers to support the choreography, with Seyfried at times dancing in a wool cloak weighing about 45 pounds.
- Coverage situates the film’s creative choices within Shaker history and craft, noting core tenets like celibacy and communal living and that only three adherents remain today after a 2025 conversion.