Conclave

Conclave is based on a novel by Robert Harris and serves as Edward Berger’s first English-language film. 

The pope has died and a new one needs to be elected. Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), the Dean of the College of Cardinals is placed in charge of the Conclave. As cardinals from around the globe arrive in the Vatican, Lawrence gets involved with the political horse-trading, discovering many of the leading candidates having dark secrets, and Lawrence struggling with his guilt as he tries to stay neutral. 

Conclave seems like an outlier in today’s cinematic climate. It is a serious thriller for adults, a genre that has become the preserve of streaming services. Conclave is a film that’s made for a more mature audience due to the setting, subject matter, and cast of respected veterans who looked and acted their age. 

Robert Harris has a reputation for writing tense thrillers and historical dramas and Conclave combines the two. It was a modern set film about an ancient procedure. This put Conclave in a halfway house between mainstream entertainment, and a prestige picture. It fills the mid-budget hole. 

The story of Conclave can be described as Lawrence being in the middle of a web of plots. He had to uncover the secrets of the late Pope and all the candidates. He had to act as an investigator as well as managing the Conclave. Conclave played like a locked room mystery since Lawrence had to piece together clues, ask questions and only occasionally got information from the outside. This made Conclave a more dialogue-driven film, which made the film more like a stage play at times. Due to the traditional process, characters weren’t allowed access to modern devices so the cardinals were kept in the dark. Lawrence only had an inkling about what was happening beyond the walls of the Vatican. 

Lawrence was a good man whose morals were tested by the Conclave. He had to navigate the dirty world of politics and uncovered numerous skeletons. Fiennes convinces in his role as a man who was struggling with his conscious, as man who was forced to lead the Conclave who needed to perform his duty. Fiennes portrayed this internal conflict with the ability and skill audiences have come to know. 

Conclave had a cast that most films would kill for. There’s Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini along with an array of respected characters. Everyone gave an excellent performance and there were nice touches throughout. The friendship between the liberal cardinals felt genuine as they chatted and joked before the Conclave started and Rossellini was able to say a lot with just a glance. Rossellini got to represent and speak for women within the church. 

Harris has been a political writer. He started his career as a journalist and many of his novels have looked at political themes. The Ghost was a thinly-veiled criticism of Tony Blair and The Fear Index was the financial world after the 2008 financial crash. In Conclave there were four candidates representing four different ideologies: liberal, moderate, conservative, and traditionalist. The film clearly wanted to side with the liberal faction and the traditionalist candidate, Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) was made to be as horrid and backwards as possible. Yet ideals and political reality crash as the campaigning and voting constantly changed the situation. Any politics junkies or fans of properties like The West Wing would be satisfied. Conclave does dare to ask some difficult questions, like whether it’s better to stick to your principles or compromise, and whether it would be progress to elect an African pope if he has regressive views about the LGBTQ community. 

Conclave was a handsomely made film that had a tremendous cast. It’s a great example of a character driven talky which is very compelling.