‘Conclave’ is a Simmering Papal Thriller
Ralph Fiennes serves understated excellence leading a strong ensemble in the scandal-fueled, Vatican-set thriller "Conclave."
The cassocked elite of the Catholic Church are stirring up hot tea, with little sympathy, in Conclave, a simmering political thriller about succession, set at the feet of a dead Pope.
“The throne of the Holy See is vacant,” so the College of Cardinals has convened at the Vatican for a Papal conclave, to elect a new pope. While some cardinals come to Rome determined to rally support for their preferred candidate, others arrive prepared to promote their own candidacy in an expectedly ruthless contest to garner enough votes in the conclave and become the next pontiff.
Overseeing the contentious proceedings is Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, one of the late Pope’s closest associates, portrayed by Ralph Fiennes with an air of genuine loss and dutiful purpose, and just a flicker of personal ambition.
For nearly everyone else inside the Vatican, ambition and animus seem to be the fuels stoking their fire. John Lithgow’s powerful Cardinal Tremblay clearly harbors secrets, and openly covets the Holy See. So does cape-wearing divo Cardinal Tedesco, played by Sergio Castellitto in the film’s most entertaining turn.
Alone among the likely candidates, Stanley Tucci’s level-headed Cardinal Bellini, a pro-LGBTQ liberal reformer, appears to be motivated by something other than self-interest. “No sane man would want the Papacy,” he declares.
Based on all the conniving and backstabbing that goes on in the Vatican, he has a point. Pacing out the votes and re-votes over a matter of days, the film packs in a soap opera season’s worth of secrets — sex scandals, stolen documents, and hidden agendas — into a well-acted two hours.
Yet, even though the conclave is rocked by a steady barrage of bombshell revelations, director Edward Berger, an Oscar-winner for 2022’s All Quiet on the Western Front, maintains the dignified tone of a PBS drama.
The crisp editing is buttressed by Volker Bertelmann’s insistently foreboding score and beautiful cinematography by Stéphane Fontaine, which often frames the clergy in their frocks as tiny figures against the voluminous, historic halls and porticos of the Vatican (actually Cinecittà Studios).
And, amidst the flock of cardinals, Ralph Fiennes ably commands the center, squaring off in tense tête-à-têtes with each member of the ensemble, as Cardinal Lawrence methodically strives to maintain fairness in the conclave.
Contenders stake their claims and mount their attacks, be they brazen or stealthy. And just when it seems all the battle lines have been drawn, up pops a mystery contender: the heretofore unknown Archbishop of Kabul, Cardinal Benitez (Carlos Diehz), who will attract supporters of his own.
Cardinal Lawrence also must face temptation. Fiennes illuminates Lawrence’s internal crisis of conscience, and faith, masterfully, while also teeing up his co-stars for standout scenes of their own — as in the case of a pivotal standoff between Cardinal Lawrence and Isabella Rossellini’s strong-willed Vatican administrator, Sister Agnes.
The lone voice for women in this patriarchal stronghold, Agnes, who, of course, has no vote in the conclave, can still influence the outcome by refusing to remain silent. The film challenges several tenets and traditions of the Church, and, via a homily delivered by Lawrence, stating that certainty is the enemy of mystery and of faith, it forwards a spiritual message that’s carried through until the film’s final shocking twist.
Based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris, and adapted by Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), the film doesn’t dwell on, or really get into, the sexual abuse scandals that have rocked the real-life Catholic Church. But the spectre of those crimes looms over the movie’s cutthroat battle for papal supremacy.
Rather, without diving for the tawdry, the movie slices and dices the cardinals’ collective hypocrisy and corruption by merely playing out the conclave until the black smoke rises from the Church chimney, announcing, finally, that the one has been chosen.
Conclave (★★★★☆) is playing in theaters everywhere. Visit www.fandango.com.
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