Conclave, adapted from a Robert Harris novel, locks every cardinal in a closed room and has them vote until they decide on the new pope and the future of the Catholic Church. In a blatant allegory for any election ever, you have the hard right candidate vs. the more liberal one, and another liberal of a different persuasion, each with their own complications, to hamstring and manipulate the vote. And then you have the final candidate: a rookie newcomer from an unknown background, entering the picture with a seemingly all-too perfect story, free from the inherent corruption that every cardinal has lingering over them. As the past is present – the future is in the balance.
Edward Berger directed the suitably intense remake of All Quiet on the Western Front which earned him a best picture nomination and this film, an adaption of a thriller novel, feels like his papacy audition for Jason Bourne and James Bond, he’s been linked with taking over the reigns of both franchises in the past few months since the buzz for Conclave has put Berger in best picture contention again. His protagonist, middle management expert Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with keeping the Church’s most powerful leaders requested in one place, and he begins to realise that he has a greater sense of involvement in the ritual for a new leader than previously thought: a conspiracy could lead to his downfall, and the downfall of the whole Catholic Church. Ralph Fiennes brings an audible sense of calm above a hidden nervousness to his role, well-acted and intriguing with a classic Catholic Church playbook of the Crisis of Faith narrative that has dominated films about the priesthood since the time of Bresson and Melville; if not before.
This is a film excessively detailed as one would expect from something adapted from a Harris novel, I’ve not read this one but Act of Oblivion was excessively detailed, almost to a fault, it thrives off the excessive of the papal election. It requires a bit of suspension of disbelief to get to where it ends up but I’m all for the final twist, that will get all your right people, your JK Rowlings of the world, completely mad and unhinged when they eventually learn of the ending without ever having seen the film. It feels like a juggernaut waiting to happen and I applaud Berger for not playing it safe and taking the risks that he has done. The clever scheming of Cardinals is something that’s raw and entertaining to watch unfold, kind of like a Mean Girls remake in the height of the Catholic Church, and it feels at its heart, deeply parent-core in its approach, the kind of movie that you’d take them to see and you just know they’d have a good time. Yet it is formidable in its execution – blazingly entertaining and suspenseful, with Berger’s shock tactic that he used in All Quiet on the Western Front propulsive here with the same loud sounds that he benefits from – it’s not quite the War Pigs esque but when the bombs fly, they come and they come in spades, it’s a testament to the film’s strength that you never quite work out who the new Pope will be at the end, and the film never quite reaches Angels & Demons level shenanigans, which was completely absurd – it’s a stripped down and confidently mature thriller played strongly by a good host of reliable character actors – watching Fiennes and Stanley Tucci thrive on screen together is a treat – and the reliable cast of characters, particularly Isabella Rossellini, is as fast paced as Harris’ writing style requires.
Peter Straughan has history in this territory – he was involved in 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Given his background as a playwright it’s no coincidence this has a similar structure to that of a play, with each Cardinal favoured to be Pope taking their time centre stage. It feels timely, screened to Cineworld Unlimited members in the UK very close to the US election and in the wake of the catastrophic fallout from that, it’s hard not to see comparisons. Watching Sergio Castellitto chew scenery as the bigoted Italian Tedesco gives a Trumpian stand in and an easy villain, but there is more depth behind the scenes, John Lithgow’s American Tremblay isn’t as squeaky-clean as his reputation suggests, and Lucian Msamati’s Nigerian Adeymi could set the Church back decades of progression. The big unknown is Cardinal Benitez – played by Carlos Diehz, who has been working on the front lines in Kabul and has seen active warfare. Lawrence acts as a Sherlock Holmes figure at the centre of it all, an Agatha Christie protagonist in a James Bond spy novel.
There are discussions of politics here – can a black pope be progressive if he is anti the LGBTQ+ community to such extreme, hostile levels that make him better than what they’ve had in the past but not an ideal candidate, and can anybody be an “ideal candidate” for the new Pope in the twenty-first century? Berger uses a classic airport novel thriller structure and elevates it into prestige Oscar best picture contender – sure to be a sweeping hit with the Academy at least in regards to nominations this season. And based on the strength of his first two pictures; I’m quite happy to give him the reigns of Bond or Bourne, or whatever franchise he wants – he’s proven himself more than capable.
