‘Conclave’ Review

When Volker Bertelman’s musical score kicks in near the beginning of ‘Conclave’, the new film from Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front), the audience is told what kind of movie this is going to be. This isn’t some clinical, meditative look at the inner workings of Vatican City bureaucracy. No, this is a Catholic political thriller for the reality TV age.

The film opens with the death of the Pope and we are quickly introduced to our protagonist, Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), who in his role as Dean of the College of Cardinals is tasked with overseeing the titular papal conclave: all Cardinals in the Catholic church must sequester themselves in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new Pope.

We are then introduced to the primary candidates for the Papacy. Cardinal Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci), a progressive Catholic and close friend to the previous Pope; Cardinal Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow), a Canadian who was the last person to meet with the previous Pope before his death; Cardinal Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), an Italian traditionalist who seeks to undo social progress within the church and return it to its Italian roots; Cardinal Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), an anti-LGBTQ+ Nigerian with views as conservative as any other candidate.

Then there’s Cardinal Lawrence himself, who insists he has no interest in the papacy, that he is having a crisis of faith. But do the other Cardinals believe him? Do we?

The drama plays out like an extended episode of ‘Big Brother’: the Cardinals live together, eat together, work together. They drink wine and rip vape pens, all while jockeying for votes, trying to win the high-minded popularity contest. This film has the melodramatic beats and twists befitting such a reality show, beginning with the introduction of Cardinal Benitez (Carlos Diehz), a mysterious newcomer who had been made Cardinal by the previous Pope and kept a secret from the rest of the church and the public. Scandal upon scandal is revealed; alliances are made, undone and made again; character motivations are revealed, undermined and challenged.

There are, to be sure, higher ideas at play. This is a film, and a world, of stark contrasts. With the beautiful costumes and production design of the Sistine Chapel, these ornate and mysterious rituals are intercut with the painfully mundane realities of the Vatican as a place of real world governance, with the requisite dining halls and outdated offices and technology. Then there are the numerous contradictions between and within the characters: progress vs traditionalism, liberal vs conservative. Do the Cardinals serve God, or the Church? Where does one end and the other begin? When discussing the potential scandals of one candidate, a character states that “We serve an ideal. We cannot always be ideal.” That becomes the major question the film grapples with: what imperfections, in a person and in the church, are redeemable, and which aren’t?

An ensemble film like this only works if the acting is superb, and the performances throughout are pitch perfect. Fiennes is the centerpiece, and he delivers a performance filled with strength and doubt, humanity and integrity. We see the other powerful characters defer to his judgment and it makes sense, as his quiet power is evident. Sergio Castellitto as Cardinal Tedesco is another standout, his character’s affability undercutting his vicious conservatism. When he’s not causing drama of his own, he is watching the others, always with his trusty vape pen in hand.

As with his previous film, Netflix’s ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’, Edward Berger’s direction can be frustrating and uneven. He is capable of some beautiful, evocative imagery, like a group of Cardinals in their bright red costumes sitting in a dimly lit lecture hall, conspiring about how to win the election. But he doesn’t trust a subtle touch. It’s not enough to have an idea, he needs to write it in all caps, circle and underline it. Part of this can be attributed to the script, from Peter Straughan, which is very interested in the diversity of ideas that equally energize and undermine the Catholic church’s stature, but oftentimes the fixation on these ideas gets in the way of common sense storytelling.

And that leads to the biggest flaw with the movie: it gets too ridiculous. It’s not enough for one hidden scandal to be revealed, there are several. Right up until the very end, each scene tries to one up the drama of the moment before. It’s compelling and entertaining but unfortunately diminishes the more serious arguments of the film. Just as one wouldn’t go to ‘Love is Blind’ for romantic advice, one shouldn’t look to this movie for anything more than the drama.

Conclave
Rated PG for thematic material and smoking
Running Time: 2 hours

Director Edward Berger
Writers Peter Vaughan
Stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, Isabella Rossellini
Rating PG
Running Time 120 Minutes
Genres Drama, Thriller