Late at night an elderly man passes away in his bed of a heart attack. Not too different from the fate suffered by many others every single night. Except with one major twist, that this was the most important man in the entirety of the Roman Catholic Church, his holiness, the Pope. Now that coveted position is left vacant, but not for long.
As sorrow turns to acceptance, the inevitability of the next step is clear – it is time to appoint a successor. The college of cardinals from across the globe convene at the Vatican for a papal conclave. The question on everyone’s lips is who the next holy father will be. The liberal Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci), the staunchly traditionalist Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), the inconsequential Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow) or the conservative Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati). Each man seeks the position and as over one hundred cardinals are sequestered for their vote, a horrible possibility arises. Perhaps the death of the pope was not as natural as it seemed at first.
Attempting to herd this clowder of papal cats is Dean Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), a man with a crisis of conviction of his own, he has been tasked with seeing this sacred and holy ritual through to its conclusion, unmolested. But as schemes, infighting, conspiracy and plotting threaten the sanctity of the conclave, mysteries on top of mysteries present themselves. For the next few days, Lawrence himself is now the most important man in the Roman Catholic Church, with the future of their very institution may be at risk.
Edward Berger, the director of the highly regarded 2022 version of ‘All Quiet on the Western Front‘ returns with the equally lauded Conclave. Steeped in the deep traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, this is a film which tells the story of dogma, greed and ambition, things which feel like they belong in a period piece yet presented here against a contemporary setting.
This clashing of the past, present and future appears throughout Conclave as the mysteries deepen. Not only in the views of the cardinals themselves but the process of how the vote is carried out. It may at first seem silly to the outsider, but this isn’t merely a funny handshake to get into a secret club but is a respected traditions going back hundreds of years, with Lisy Christl‘s Oscar-nominated costume design only adding to the beauty and authenticity of the film.
All of it is explored in painstaking detail and respect by the filmmakers. The film is only partially in English while the conclave itself demands the proceedings are carried out in Latin. Viewers feel like flies on the wall seeing the inside of something that we are meant to be locked out of, adding to the gravitas of the ritual.
The flaws of these men of the cloth are presented in all their shame. We do not get much in the way of back story for many of the characters with Fiennes‘ performance as Cardinal Lawrence being the only one truly fleshed out. Yet, of all the candidates, we see their virtues, their shortcomings, how their views will shape the Church and just how much this hallowed position means to each of them (even when they claim it doesn’t).
Politics pile on top of each other as ‘Us versus Them’ views arise. This is no longer about choosing a new pope. Instead, it’s about those who would bring back the church’s “dark ages” vs those “liberalists” who would see everything change until the Church becomes completely unrecognisable. It may be painfully obvious where the filmmakers’ allegiances lean, but all sides are given a chance to shine and fall in their own way. The audience can make up their own mind as to which direction they believe the Church should go, or even if they think the correct decision has been made in the end.
As one candidate after another is ‘taken out’, so to speak, it becomes a game of cat and mouse. Lawrence attempting to maintain the integrity of the conclave while cut off from the outside world, challenged as secrets are uncovered. What are these powerful men willing to do, and what depths would they stoop to in achieving the goal they’ve worked towards their entire lives?
The talent of Oscar-winning composer Volker Bertelmann without a doubt makes the film. Scenes which would otherwise have been entirely droll and moments which would drag on become nail-biting as Bertelmann’s intensely frantic score ramps up the anxiety, turning this political drama into something just as thrilling as director Bergman’s All Quiet on the Western Front World War I set epic.
Still, for all these virtues, Conclave feels somewhat lost by a few twists which seem bizarre and only make less sense the more you think about them. On the surface, they appear to be in line with the themes of the film; uncertainty, confusion and mystery of the real world, but rather strike me as being completely arbitrary to it. These twists may even harm a viewer’s enjoyment of the entire piece as it can take away from the mystery, leading many to wonder what was the point of the entire thing.
Yet Conclave remains a brilliantly crafted conspiratorial thriller set within the Catholic Church, and is as intriguing and easily digestible as anything by The Da Vinci Code’s author, Dan Brown. With an understated performance by Ralph Fiennes, as well as a great selection of diverse performers, Conclave explores a fascinating religious ceremony, dunking us up to our armpits in an atmosphere of suspicion and melodrama as powerful men vie for even more power, while one decent man tries to keep the faith.