The Testament of Ann Lee (Mona Fastvold, 2025)

[Never Cursed]

No Films of 2025 thread yet so this insane piece of news is going here - Mona Fastvold wrote and shot in secret (Brady Corbet co-wrote, Daniel Blumberg did music) Ann Lee, an “epic fable” musical about the eponymous founder of the Shakers. Amanda Seyfried stars as Ann Lee, with Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Christopher Abbott, Tim Blake Nelson and Stacy Martin also in the film

[yoloswegmaster]

The even more insane piece of news is that there are rumours that The Brutalist hasn't received an official rating from the MPAA because they want to give it a NC-17 rating (that might actually not be that more insane).

[domino harvey]

That sounds great, maybe we’ll finally get another good modern musical out of it

[Never Cursed]

The even more insane piece of news is that there are rumours that The Brutalist hasn't received an official rating from the MPAA because they want to give it a NC-17 rating (that might actually not be that more insane).

All I can say is anyone interested in this film should probably steer clear of discussions of this in detail, because the reasons why this might be a problem for the film (and there are some, though I don't know if content-wise this is any worse than Poor Things, which was fine last year BBFC quibble notwithstanding) are strong spoilers

[beamish14]

It’s really sad that even Amanda Seyfriend couldn’t get North American distributors (or even high-profile festivals) interested in her second film with Atom Egoyan

[therewillbeblus]

That sounds great, maybe we’ll finally get another good modern musical out of it

Look no further than Joshua Oppenheimer's The End for the most creative modern musical in ages, which seems tailor-made for swo17

[thirtyframesasecond]

It’s really sad that even Amanda Seyfriend couldn’t get North American distributors (or even high-profile festivals) interested in her second film with Atom Egoyan

Is that more of a reflection that Egoyan's been off the boil for a long time (that said, I really enjoyed Remember)?

[beamish14]

It’s really sad that even Amanda Seyfriend couldn’t get North American distributors (or even high-profile festivals) interested in her second film with Atom Egoyan

Is that more of a reflection that Egoyan's been off the boil for a long time (that said, I really enjoyed Remember)?

Oh, for sure

[John Cope]

I've been hounding people online for well over a year now as to when somebody somewhere would release Seven Veils, especially as it was received very well in its original festival debut (a friend I trust tells me it's Egoyan's most beautiful movie since The Adjuster). It's not the only one like that from him that still needs a release (Citadel, for sure, even more so). Then of course I have long been a late career (post-Sweet Hereafter) Egoyan apologist/defender but that's a whole other subject.
'

[Never Cursed]

Now called The Testament of Ann Lee

[yoloswegmaster]

This is also screening at TIFF on 70mm (and presumably the same at Venice).

[Never Cursed]

Screened at Venice to polarized reviews: some viewers dismissed the film as pretentious and hated the use of music, others saw it as comparable or even superior to The Brutalist. Daniel Blumberg also acts in the film

[yoloswegmaster]

They announced on stage at TIFF that Netflix has gotten the rights to it.

[domino harvey]

Grim!

[senseabove]

They announced on stage at TIFF that Netflix has gotten the rights to it.

Weeks later and I haven’t seen this confirmed or reported anywhere else?

[GaryC]

This is also screening at TIFF on 70mm (and presumably the same at Venice).

And also at the London Film Festival on 15 October in NFT1. The showing on the 11th at the Curzon Mayfair will be a DCP. Both sold out though.

[beamish14]

This is also screening at TIFF on 70mm (and presumably the same at Venice).

And also at the London Film Festival on 15 October in NFT1. The showing on the 11th at the Curzon Mayfair will be a DCP. Both sold out though.

The 70mm screening at the American Cinematheque sold out instantly, but I’m guessing it will get a first run release in this format at the Vista

[The Narrator Returns]

They announced on stage at TIFF that Netflix has gotten the rights to it.

Weeks later and I haven’t seen this confirmed or reported anywhere else?

My fiancée told me she’s heard that deal came very very close to happening but it fell apart because Netflix refused to allow for 70mm screenings.

[beamish14]

They announced on stage at TIFF that Netflix has gotten the rights to it.

Weeks later and I haven’t seen this confirmed or reported anywhere else?

My fiancée told me she’s heard that deal came very very close to happening but it fell apart because Netflix refused to allow for 70mm screenings.

Really? Bad experience with Roma?

[senseabove]

And here's a Reddit thread of some hearsay that makes it sound like it wasn't so much announced at TIFF as prematurely implied by someone thanking them.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Weeks later and I haven’t seen this confirmed or reported anywhere else?

My fiancée told me she’s heard that deal came very very close to happening but it fell apart because Netflix refused to allow for 70mm screenings.

Really? Bad experience with Roma?

I was told Netflix has a barely functioning cinema distribution team and that turnaround at that company is very high in general, but especially high in that department. Have they done any 70mm prints other than Roma? Have they even done a 35mm print since May December?

[yoloswegmaster]

My fiancée told me she’s heard that deal came very very close to happening but it fell apart because Netflix refused to allow for 70mm screenings.

Really? Bad experience with Roma?

I was told Netflix has a barely functioning cinema distribution team and that turnaround at that company is very high in general, but especially high in that department. Have they done any 70mm prints other than Roma? Have they even done a 35mm print since May December?

They released 70mm prints of the Zack Snyder film from 2023 and they are doing 35mm prints for GDT's Frankenstein.

[beamish14]

Really? Bad experience with Roma?

I was told Netflix has a barely functioning cinema distribution team and that turnaround at that company is very high in general, but especially high in that department. Have they done any 70mm prints other than Roma? Have they even done a 35mm print since May December?

They released 70mm prints of the Zack Snyder film from 2023 and they are doing 35mm prints for GDT's Frankenstein.

Netflix does have a very…rickety theatrical distribution arm. Del Toro’s Pinocchio also got a tiny 35mm rollout

[senseabove]

A theater (part of a small local chain) that hasn't done 35mm in years—at least since a change of ownership in 2018, and I'm pretty sure not since ~2011—sent out a splashy email that 35mm is returning to the theater, and it's for a block run of three overlapping Netflix releases: two weeks of Frankenstein, two weeks of Nouvelle Vague, and a week of Train Dreams. It's such a bizarre turn of events that I'm suspicious of something, but I don't quite know what...

[The Narrator Returns]

Very fortuitous timing for this discussion, it just sold to Searchlight.