Review of Conclave, a film that executes without error

Finally. It’s been some time since a picture delivered so much without exhausting or convoluting itself, allowing each element of the filmmaking to take effect. Oscar-winning director Edward Berger’s adaption of the Robert Harris novel of the same name threads the strings of mystery, thriller, and political drama all into one beautiful presentation. Following the sudden passing of the revered Pope, the traditional selection of a successor commences. Age old rituals are braced against modernity, illuminating the inescapable impetuses of human nature that sprout even in the field of moral grandeur. Stellar performances, stunning set design, and captivating shots animate the narrative.

Ralph Fiennes climbs to a career peak as Cardinal Lawrence, a man at odds with his own faith and principles, responsible for overseeing this coveted private Catholic assembly. The former Pope’s death is a striking reminder that, although close to God, delivering his message, Lawrence and the others can’t evade their mortality. Fiennes was Berger’s first choice for the role, and you learn why. His conflicted conscience is dangerously tangible to the audience, as he tries to navigate the political machinations of a religious world within a world. 

From across the globe, now confined to The Vatican, the Church’s figureheads bring with them their own secrets and agendas, as did their previous eminence, who too had his own surprises we discover later. Loyalty, betrayal, and shaky alliances draped in cassocks. Primary contenders Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones), Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow, The Old Man), Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto, Don’t Move), and Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati, See How They Run) witness their vulnerabilities exposed while blinded by personal ideologies. 

The sound design enriches the tension throughout. Although most scenes take places inside, it never feels limited. The execution of vivid colors and contrasts, shadows and light, with choice still shots in the right places give warmth and depth. 

Tensions rise as the plot thickens

Cardinal Bellini stresses to Lawrence the need to pick a side (his) to prevent Tedesco’s succession, bearing ideals some fear would be “undoing progress”. Tucci displays desperation, pleading unity amongst the more liberally inclined Cardinals. It’s nearly impossible not to think of the contemporary American bureaucratic atmosphere. That’s not the only parallel present throughout. Whether intended or not, these qualities of the conclave work as a great allegory to interpret things through a more objective lens.

Lawrence suggests to the contingent the need for a Pope who has doubt. To him, this might not only be what he sees as a vital characteristic, but a means to process and normalize the doubt he is experiencing. Resistant to any support for his own candidacy, he admits his wishes to leave the Vatican, having “difficulties”.

Fresh from the pages of any presidential campaign playbook, a scandal emerges, threatening to tarnish Cardinal Adeyemi’s chances of becoming the first black Pope. As Machiavellian tactics rear their head, Lawrence uncovers another incriminating secret while a greater mystery unravels. Reluctant to accept choosing the “least-worst option”, he and his peers are dragged by the currents of conscience versus career, doing the right thing spiritually, or the right thing to advance your role and the Church organizationally. 

Berger constructs conflict that sways from staunch, moral qualms, to petty objections. The ravenous drive of dogma and thirst for ascension engulfs the collective. But what defines the will to be just, for oneself, as well as for the Church and its’ followers, is a question none can avoid answering. Dripping with Oscar-appeal and laced with developmental twists, Conclave is cinematic gospel worth the investment.

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