CONCLAVE

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Storyline (warning: spoilers)

After a Pope dies, a Cardinal is tasked with overseeing the process of electing a new one. In this case, it’s the confident, progressive Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), who hopes that his colleagues will settle on Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci). Bellini shares the desire of Lawrence to move the church more fully into the 21st century. It’s clear from early on however that Bellini may not have the right stuff for this gig, especially when he responds poorly to a progressive speech given by Lawrence, refusing to see his friend as an ally as much as competition. If Lawrence and Bellini split the progressive vote, the title could end up going to Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellito), a righteously hateful man who believes that opening up the church to different races and genders has dragged it down.
Conclave is a thriller built around conversation as different players in the game come forward to make themselves heard, and the debate leads to secrets being revealed. Was a Cardinal played by John Lithgow almost excommunicated before the Pope died and why? What should be made of the Cardinal from Afghanistan that no one seemed to know existed before today? And what role will a nun played by Isabella Rossellini play because you don’t cast a legend in a role like that if she’s not going to make an impact?
The director, Edward Berger, and his cinematographer, Stéphane Fontaine, find ways to make what could have been a visually dull chamber drama into a film that’s never boring, sliding their camera through the halls of the Vatican in a way that makes it both threatening and gorgeous at the same time. The whole cast works, especially Fiennes, but this is a screenwriting pleasure for this viewer, hooked on the sharp dialogue that places a different secret behind everyone who might be Pope. The numerous twists here are kind of intrinsic to the point. These men who are deciding the fate of the religious world are as flawed, maybe more, than those who hang on their every choice.