Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (December 17, 2024)
When we last saw director Edward Berger, he led a 2022 Oscar-nominated adaptation of the World War I tale All Quiet on the Western Front. For his follow-up, Berger trains his eye on the inner workings of the Catholic Church via 2024’s Conclave.
After Pope Gregory XVII dies, Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) runs the College of Cardinals conclave necessary to choose a new pontiff. From the outset, four primary candidates emerge, all of whom bring different beliefs and attitudes: American Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci), Nigerian Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), Canadian Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow) and Italian Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto).
As these figures jockey for position, a variety of potential controversies emerge. Cardinal Lawrence needs to navigate these challenges and help the Catholic Church find its new leader.
On the surface, a movie about the selection process used to determine the next pope doesn’t sound especially fascinating. Actually, I think I’d find it interesting to learn about the specifics, but it still doesn’t seem like a terribly cinematic topic.
Which almost certainly becomes why Conclave spices up matters via those snarls to which I allude in my synopsis. To gin up drama, the film demonstrates a mix of concerns that impact the main candidates.
Does this seem realistic? Probably not, as I suspect the actual selection process develops in a much less juicy manner.
But realism in a probably dull bureaucratic procedure doesn’t sell movie tickets. As such, Conclave goes for story that makes it more like a thriller than the subject matter would imply.
Although it does stretch credulity, Conclave manages to become a mostly engaging view of its topic. Though I doubt most gatherings of this sort revolve around so much backbiting and scandal, the end result still offers a reasonably compelling tale.
I don’t want to give the impression Conclave offers a soap opera style potboiler. While it does lean toward thriller territory, it keeps an even tone and doesn’t throw out sizzle just to titillate an audience.
Heck, for all I know, maybe papal selection committees work just the same as what we see here. That still sounds like a stretch, but I’m no Catholic Church historian and perhaps some – or even most – conclaves generate the same level of feuding as the one featured in the film.
Apparently no one really knows how these sessions operate – well, no one willing to spill the beans, at least. According to Berger’s audio commentary, the participants get sworn to secrecy, so the inner workings remain a mystery to the broader population.
Whatever the case, Conclave manages to create a fairly intriguing look at these matters, and it evolves in a positive manner. It does telegraph some twists in advance – which Berger freely admits in his commentary – but these elements never seem gratuitous or illogical.
Instead, the narrative evolves gradually and without self-conscious theatrics. While the tale may involve various scandals, Berger avoids the urge to paint this in a melodramatic manner.
This allows Conclave to seem realistic despite potential leaps of credulity. Though deep down it all seems a bit over the top, Berger depicts the tale in a way that allows it to seem believable.
Of course, an excellent cast helps. In particular, Fiennes delivers a rich performance that grounds the tale and seems highly likely to nab him an Oscar nomination.
I admit that the film’s tendency toward plot elements I don’t really buy holds back the success of Conclave. Nonetheless, it becomes an involving flick that achieves most of its goals.
