Il Papa è morto

Film: Conclave
Format: Streaming video from Peacock on Fire!

I tend to think Ralph Fiennes rarely gets the credit that he deserves. Fiennes makes a really good villain (see the Harry Potter franchise, In Bruges, and Schindler’s List. He’s good in straight dramas—see his run in the James Bond franchise. He can also do comedy, as in In Bruges (again) and The Grand Budapest Hotel. He’s an actor who I will watch when I come across one of his movies almost automatically, so when I saw Conclave streaming on Peacock, I knew I’d get to it sooner rather than later.

My own religious opinions are fairly well known on this blog. I’m not merely someone who is irreligious but someone who is generally anti-theistic, believing that religion does more harm than good. It’s a constant part of my movie watching, though, because so many horror movies rely on religious themes. Conclave isn’t a horror movie, but it very much is a religious one, taking place essentially entirely in the Vatican.

When the movie begins, the pope has died, probably of a coronary event, but ultimately the fact that he has died is more important than how he died. With the need for a new pope to be elected, the running of the conclave of cardinals who will be voting falls to the Dean of College of Cardinals, Thomas Lawrence (Fiennes). The fight over the papacy will come down to two factions, more or less. There is one faction that leans more toward tradition (read: extreme right-wing) while the other leans more liberal. The conservative side is split between social conservative Joshua Adeyemi (Lucien Msamati), Canadian Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow), and extreme reactionary Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto). On the left, there is American cardinal Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci) and newcomer named Vincent Benitez (Carlos Diehz), a Mexican cardinal named as the cardinal of Kabul, of all places, in secret to keep him safe. There is also a small contingent that seems to favor Lawrence.

Much of the movie is, as you might expect, maneuvering by the different factions to gain the papacy. There are a number of dirty tricks, secrets are exposed, and testimony from the head nun, Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossallni) proves to be enough to destroy the candidacy of several of the people who are in the running. As the candidates are whittled down, the votes come closer and closer to electing someone, and Lawrence and Bellini are desperate to prevent one of the conservatives from winning. Things come to a head when a terrorist attack strikes at the Vatican and at several other places around the world, leading to a crisis among the College of Cardinals and a final vote.

This is very much a thriller despite the fact that aside from a bomb blast during one of the votes, that all of the action is talking. It’s the intensity of the conversations that matter here, of course, and the potential changes to the world depending on the identity of who finally wins the election.

It’s not a surprise that Conclave is beautifully acted. The cast is impeccable and everyone involved is at the top of their game. I had forgotten that John Lithgow had made a career playing heavies in the ‘80s and early ‘90s before he became more known for “Third Rock from the Sun.” He still has the chops for that, but it’s Fiennes who is clearly the focus, and it’s his movie, with a strong assist from Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini.

The problem I had with Conclave is that you know there are going to be a couple of twist moments or big shocks. Any movie that bills itself as a thriller in any sense is guaranteed to have a couple of surprising moments as we head to the climax. If you’re good with media literacy, you can guess correctly sometimes. Conclave does, in fact, have two surprise moments. You’re likely to guess the first one before it happens. That’s fine; it’s telegraphed a minute or two before it happens. This is one of those cases, though, where I guessed it right away. I actually said it out loud; I won’t spoil it here.

The second shock moment feels like one that comes out of nowhere, and it’s going to be something that gets a lot of people angry. That said, the people who get angry are people who seem to get angry at everything, so while I don’t love the final twist, I’m at least entertained by the ramifications of it.

I expect to see some nominations for Conclave in January. I hope to see Ralph Fiennes in the nominations for Best Actor; he got ripped of by being ignored for both The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Menu, and he deserves some attention. I don’t know that this would be something I would nominate for Best Picture, but it won’t surprise me if it is, and the same is true for the screenplay.

Why to watch Conclave: Drama is drama, regardless of location.
Why not to watch: At least one of the surprise moments isn’t a surprise at all.