Edward Berger takes a break from the muddy battlefields of Europe to make a film set in a considerably more beautiful location—the Vatican.
Conclave is Berger’s follow-up to All Quiet on the Western Front, and it is a cinematic palette cleanser, a psychological thriller with a high quotient of little hats and be-caped men scurrying down marble halls, whispering in shadowy colonnaded corners, and plotting in the Sistine Chapel. It’s a perfect antidote to the far drearier and more depressing Western Front, though it’s no less beautifully made, with exceptional cinematography courtesy Stéphane Fontaine.
Adapted from Robert Harris’s 2016 novel of the same name, Conclave is a film about conflict and the minutiae of the Catholic Church as the pope’s unexpected death leaves Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes, doing career-best work) to manage the conclave in which the College of Cardinals will elect a new pope. This involves cardinals from around the world descending on the Vatican to scheme and plot their way to power. The film can be taken as an allegory for a political election—it’s easy to compare to the US election, but the truth is, the conservative/liberal divide is fraught in many western democracies, so it can also be taken as a broader critique for these tensions, in general.
The conclave is upset by the arrival of a mysterious cardinal no one knew about, a man with a gentle voice and watchful eyes called Benitez. (Fun fact, Cardinal Benitez is played by Mexican-Canadian actor Carlos Diehz, who decided to try acting after his children grew up and moved away.) What is Benitez’s angle, what does he want, why did no one know he exists except the dead pope? But this is just one mystery that Thomas must solve, for he is also unraveling a shady secret in Cardinal Tremblay’s past. Tremblay (John Lithgow) is the mainline conservative candidate for pope, and his rivals are Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), the hard right candidate; Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), who would be the first Black pope but is also socially conservative; and Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), a progressive cardinal who feigns disinterest in the papacy in order to seem humbler and more appealing.
All of these men have secrets Thomas must ferret out, in hopes of finding the most suitable candidate for pope, all while dealing with his own crisis of faith, an improbable push for the papacy, and some unnamed social unrest ongoing outside the walls of the conclave. It’s a lot, but somehow Conclave, adapted by Peter Straughan for the screen, never feels overstuffed or like it’s rushing to get somewhere particular. Events unfold steadily as Thomas picks away at the many secrets held within the Vatican. He is aided in this by a nun, Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini), who is relegated to the sidelines by tradition, but still manages to find a way to make her mark on the proceedings. Rossellini has a spectacular moment that fully justifies forcing her to spend most of her screentime in silence, watching petty men in little hats squabble while she keeps the Vatican running smoothly.
While Conclave is not a particularly flattering portrait of the Catholic Church, it is sensitive to faith and the role faith plays in people’s lives. Apt to his name, Thomas harbors doubts about the whole thing, going through the motions dictated by centuries of pomp, all while feeling adrift and disconnected from God. He tried to resign as dean of the College of Cardinals, but the late pope denied his resignation, specifically keeping him around to manage the conclave. Thomas’s faith journey is about understanding the higher purpose he serves, which is perhaps not so much the political aspect of the papacy, but what it represents to believers around the world. Conclave is not especially deep, but where it does pick at weightier themes, it does so with sensitivity and real thought.
At least until the completely bonkers third-act twist, which had the audience at TIFF shrieking with delight and disbelief. When Conclave decides to ditch any pretense of depth and go full bananas, it does so with 100% commitment. Somewhere in that wild turn is a lovely message about acceptance and God’s love, but honestly, it’s buried so far under the rubble of shock it barely sees the light of day.
Conclave is at once tense and silly, thrilling and absurd, an unexpected hoot—it’s either the fanciest airport thriller ever made, or the most preposterous prestige drama. Conclave is a dad movie for unhinged dads.
Conclave is playing exclusively in theaters from October 25, 2024.
