Conclave (2024, dir. Edward Berger)

by Jack Martin | Nov 26, 2024

Certificate: 12A

Running Time: 120 mins

UK Distributor: Black Bear Films

UK Release Date: 29 November 2024

WHO’S IN CONCLAVE?

Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Lucian Msamati, Carlos Diehz, Sergio Castellitto, Isabella Rossellini, Loris Loddi, Brían F. O’Byrne, Merab Ninidze, Thomas Loibl, Jacek Koman

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Edward Berger (director), Peter Straughan (writer), Alice Dawson, Robert Harris, Juliette Howell, Michael Jackman and Tessa Ross (producers), Volker Bertelmann (composer), Stéphane Fontaine (cinematographer), Nick Emerson (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A cardinal (Fiennes) oversees the political turmoil surrounding the selection of a new Pope…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON CONCLAVE?

[This is a slightly re-edited version of our review for Conclave from its showing at the Toronto International Film Festival]

From the White House to the Kremlin, political ambition is a universal language that anyone with a desire for power can speak. According to director Edward Berger’s Conclave, not even the Vatican is immune from petty backstabbing and calculated Machiavellianism, for when it comes to that holiest of professions – the public face of arguably the world’s largest religion – it’s fair game for anyone wanting to be crowned the next pope.

But if behind-the-scenes drama within the Catholic Church doesn’t sound like a particularly thrilling time at the movies, you would be surprised by how tense this movie can actually get. Paced almost like a detective murder-mystery, except without the murder (or is it?), Berger’s film (adapted from Robert Harris’s novel of the same name) carefully drip-feeds some genuine surprises into a seemingly stuffy setting that makes for intriguing and quite thrilling entertainment.

Taking place in Vatican City, the film begins with the death of the current pope, from a suspected heart attack. Thus begins the meticulous and highly secretive process to select a new pope, with Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) being placed in charge of the traditional conclave proceedings. Early frontrunners for the top position include ultra-conservative Italian priest Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), liberal-minded American cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), controversial Canadian pontiff Tremblay (John Lithgow), and Mexican-born Afghani newcomer Benitez (Carlos Diehz). However, as the priests cast their votes in endless rounds of voting, Lawrence discovers a number of alarming revelations about some of the candidates that could disqualify them from the papacy, or even worse put the wrong person in the white robes and pointy hat.

Though in many ways very different to Berger’s international breakout film All Quiet on the Western Front, Conclave shares a close sense of growing unease as tensions mount to almost impossible highs. Berger is a filmmaker who clearly knows how to boil up suspense, here mining the intrigue from Peter Straughan’s script and pouring it into a slowly bubbling pot wherein the drama is allowed to simmer and not come out too overdone. The director pays close attention to minor details surrounding this heavily guarded selection process, from the creation of wax seals intended for ribbons closing off the late pope’s living quarters, to the number of coaches that transport the cardinals to and from where they must elect a new leader, which further establishes a world that is so thorough in its organisation that it almost feels like you’re stepping onto a whole new planet. Cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine sharply conveys many of these rituals in a number of crisp close-ups and faraway shots, while Volker Bertelmann’s gripping score amplifies the invisible uncertainty of seemingly straightforward dialogue scenes between characters.

Once Conclave gets into the political machinations within these seemingly holy headquarters, Berger and Straughan are quick to pile on a number of twists and turns that make the proceedings fairly unpredictable. When it looks like one of the cardinals is cruising towards an easy victory, that quickly comes crashing down. At one point, it even feels like certain characters are being set us as the true masterminds behind the discourse, only for a much more shocking truth to be revealed that caused an extended wave of gasps and applause at my screening. It’s a film that really enjoys playing with the viewer’s expectations, even as it threatens to become a bit too preposterous (the kind where certain things only really happen in the movies as opposed to reality), and it also knows when to offset some of the tension with some surprisingly funny moments that acknowledge the film’s overtly political themes, with one character comparing himself to Richard Nixon, while another points out the scene’s resemblance to an American spy thriller.

At the centre of it all is a tender performance by Ralph Fiennes, whose understated turn as a cardinal burdened with massive responsibility despite his wavering faith, to where he even finds it difficult to pray, carries echoes of Gary Oldman’s striking take on George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (a film that, funnily enough, Straughan co-wrote). Like John le Carré’s mysterious protagonist, Fiennes commands the screen with barely a raised octave, his wandering hawk-like eye paying close attention to the manipulations of his fellow men of God, and like a faith-based Columbo he swoops in on suspected individuals right when they’re ready to let their guard down. It’s a fascinating performance that Fiennes gives here, and he has fine support from the likes of John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, and Isabella Rossellini who has a few standout moments as a nun who chooses her words very carefully.

An engrossing political thriller that keeps you hooked on its slow-cooker suspense, Conclave is a fascinating exercise in taking what should be a fairly dry concept – no matter your views on religion, it must be acknowledged that choosing a new pope isn’t the most exciting process in the world – and transforming it into a multi-layered and even exciting narrative that will honestly take you by surprise at multiple junctions.

Praise be, a religious thriller that isn’t as stuffy and dull as it sounds!

SO, TO SUM UP…

Conclave is an engrossing political thriller set within the machinations of the Catholic Church that, thanks to Edward Berger’s sharp direction, Peter Straughan’s surprising script, and a captivating central turn by Ralph Fiennes, easily overcomes some of its preposterousness.