Here’s a terrific political drama directed by Edward Berger. Conclave stars Ralph Fiennes on terrific form, playing dean of the College of Cardinals. Following the death of the Pope, he must navigate his way through various travails as a battle for power commences.
Fiennes is on exceptional form here (no surprise there), but there’s also a terrific supporting cast with Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini.
If you want to see a perfectly honed, slow burner drama with lots of understated intrigue, this on really does the job.
The Palpable Papal Infighting World of Conclave
Ralph Fiennes is 62 and we feel he doesn’t get the credit he deserves for one of the best careers in cinema history. Where do you even begin with the man’s roster of performances?
Conclave is a new starting point. Fiennes is on subtle form here, but it’s a quietly exceptional performance.
The film launched in cinemas only in late 2024. It’s now available for renting on streaming services, so we hunkered down and prepared ourselves for some Pope-based shenanigans. It doesn’t disappoint.
Conclave begins with the Pope’s sudden death. Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Fiennes), the dean of the College of Cardinals, convenes with various other Cardinals.
After a period of mourning the battle for supremacy begins, taking place subtlety before ramping up in intensity.
The film is Shakespearian in its handling of all this. Human psychology at play, with Cardinal Lawrence (a liberal) attempting to balance the demands and expectations of his peers.
As the battle for new Popedom begins, the likes of Cardinal Albo Bellini (Stanley Tucci), Cardinal Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow), and Cardinal Joshua Adeymi (Lucian Msamati) commence.
Things are thrown askew when Cardinal Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) turns up with a desire to win. It’s just he has some extreme conservative views and wants to drag the church back to the 19th century.
Cardinal Lawrence delivers a homily that’s, highly likely (we suspect), to become an iconic bit of modern cinema. In this he clarifies to the various Cardinals about global expectations ahead.
Tedesco casts serious concerns amongst most others but, as you may be able to tell from current political trends in the real world, we know these types have a bizarre appeal.
He continuously disrupts the norm by calling for draconian measures. And a car bomb outside the Vatican merely adds to the stress of the situation.
Cardinal Vincent Benitez (Carlos Diehz) emerges amongst this as a Mexican archbishop with a benevolent manner. Cardinal Lawrence attempts to guide his voting for the next pope towards an impartial route, but various twists and turns lead to an unexpected outcome.
We won’t mention what here as that’d be a serious spoiler.
Conclave tackles head-on various modern issues—gender equality, gay rights, diversity etc. Issues a huge chunk of the right have a genuinely quite baffling problem with. Its liberal leaning is clear and will vex some viewers, but that’s the point of cinema. To consider different points of view.
Away from its obvious relevance to modern life, Conclave is a great political drama. The “twist” ending has been divisive, but there’s no denying the general quality of the writing. And the performances are universally excellent.
Ralph Fiennes wins out, though, with a nuanced and expressive bit of work that’ll go down as a career highlight. Worth watching this one for him alone.
The Production of Conclave
Considered one of the best films of 2024, it’s Oscar nominated (for eight awards) and already won four at the BAFTAs the other week. Off its $20 million budget it was a decent hit, earning back $100 million.
The film was adapted from Robert Harris’ 2016 eponymous novel.
It’s great to see people going to see it, though, as is a non-flashy blockbuster type deal.
There’s lots of guys talking in rooms and gradually piecing the motives together, all with the aim of stopping the hard-right Cardinal Goffredo Tedesco from ruining everyone’s lives (feels kind of relevant to modern life, eh?).
Despite the film looking like it was filmed in Vatican City, most of what the audience sees of indoors scenes is a replicate of the Sistine Chapel. However, a lot of filming did take place in Rome.
Volker Bertelmann also offers up an impressive score that almost acts as an onscreen character. You get the sense of urgency from all of this.
To note on a final point, religious reaction to the film has been mixed (as you’d expect). Some criticise Conclave for being a caricature of the church, others welcome its earnest approach.
Politics has played a part in this. The right leaning Archdiocese of Los Angeles called the film bad, with poor writing you’d expect from ChatGPT. However, others called the film a triumph—that included Kate Lucky from Christianity Today.
We guess the best bet is to watch yourself and see what you make of it.
That is the joy of cinema.
