Conclave (2024) * * *

 

Directed by:  Edward Berger

Starring:  Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini, Carlos Diehz, Sergio Castellitto, Lucian Msamati

You wouldn't expect the conclave to elect a new pope would be the backdrop for a suspenseful thriller, but Conclave operates quite well within those parameters.  In the opening scenes of Conclave, the pope is on his deathbed and surrounded by the cardinals who aspire to take his place.  Among them is Dean Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Fiennes), who is put in charge of the conclave which will elect a successor.  

Lawrence himself is not campaigning to be pope, but he has his supporters.  He is as close to saintly as one could be, perhaps naively believing everyone in the Vatican is there to serve God and only God.  He will learn the hard way that this isn't the way things are.  Various cardinals jockey for position to win the title of Pope.  Among them are Cardinal Tremblay (Lithgow), the last cardinal to meet with the pontiff when he was alive, and may or may not be involved in a financial scheme while also allegedly trying to besmirch Cardinal Adeyemi (Msamati) with issues from his past.  Tremblay fervently denies wrongdoing, but we know better than to take him at face value.

Also in the running is Cardinal Tedesco (Castellitto), a conservative cardinal who laments the direction the church has taken and wishes to restore more traditional values, Cardinal Bellini (Tucci), who is against all of Tedesco's ideas and is Lawrence's best friend, and the newest member of the conclave, Cardinal Benitez (Diehz), who arrives secretly at the behest of the late pope.  As the daily voting takes place, candidates gain and lose ground, while others steadily climb.  Lawrence uncovers each cardinal's secrets, and navigates the territory while trying to keep his faith in the system.  Fiennes, a brilliant actor, is a sympathetic lead we can most identify with.  

The cast, of course, is stellar and how could it not be?  They could make reading a phone book compelling (if there are any of those anymore).  Conclave operates on the level of suspense and behind-the-scenes negotiating, bickering, and politics which make up this process.  Is it realistic or accurate?  I have no clue, but what's here is compelling.  The ending may appear to be a swerve for swerve's sake, but it raises questions about not only the direction of the Catholic Church, but about how many strings the late pope was pulling even from beyond the grave.  Would Catholics dismiss the movie out of hand for being "anti-Vatican" or would they follow it and be entertained?  I found myself siding with the latter point of view.