Conclave Movie Review

Ralph Fiennes gives one of the best performances of his career in one of the best films of 2024 4 and half out of 5

After the unexpected death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with managing the covert and ancient ritual of electing a new one. Sequestered in the Vatican with the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders until the process is complete, Lawrence finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could lead to its downfall. Ralph Fiennes and director Edward Berger deliver a thoughtful, riveting, intoxicating thriller about the vote of the next pope of the Vatican that challenges you no matter what you’re believes are which makes the film so entertaining so you can make up your own mind as the viewer. The twists and turns are so great they keep you guessing and shows that no matter how devoted to God, you think you are that are doesn’t make you immune to human pettiness and faults to do what you think is best for the church whether that is good or for your own self-interest.

Edward Berger does a phenomenal job directing this film following All Quiet On The Western Front which won best International film at the Oscars does not disappoint having a lot of close ups when the actors are talking to each other, to having the camera far away from them when they are sneaking around builds this tension to the scheming that is happening that makes you want to know what’s going to happen. Berger also uses over the shoulder shots to make you feel you are Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes as he is investigating secrets that some of the nominees for the next pope may have. The pacing of the film is great it feels like a thriller so it never drags once throughout the film Berger manages to balance the different points of views of the main characters so they all feel human so no one feels one dimensional even those you may dislike or disagree with which I love as someone who grew up lightly catholic it was so engaging.

The Performances across the board are just fantastic starting with Ralph Fiennes as dean Thomas Lawrence conveys so much range in this character his compassion, his stubbornness about not wanting to be pope, his determination to make sure the vote is not corrupted by those who may not have pure intentions, with his ability to convey his doubt about the church and his faith. Stanley Tucci as Cardinal Bellini in a supporting role steals every scene he’s in portraying his conviction in his beliefs in what is right like in the scene when he is stating what he wants in the next pope which is someone who looks at women as equals that Tedesco must not be the next pope because he will bring the Vatican back to a dark and horrible time or when he has conversations with Lawrence he is reverent of him also he calls him out when Lawrence says he does not want to be the next pope saying everyone does and to look deep in his heart for the truth. John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, Sergio Castellitto, and Lucian Msamati are all great Lithgow as on the surface a loyal servant to the church but as the film progresses you see his pettiness reveal its self which makes his character multi layered with Sergio being the angry one of the film who wants to leads with hate but yet you can see his logic he isn’t cartoony and Rossellini is steelie eyed yet also vulnerable at the same time.

The last cast member to talk about is Carlos Diehz as Cardinal Benitez who arrives claiming to be a member of the Vatican when no one else knew except the late pope who just died. At first, he is met with distrust except from Lawrence but as the film progresses, he becomes so interesting whether it’s his conversations with Lawrence about why he voted for him, the speech he gives after there’s been an attack on the Vatican talking about the real battle is within ourselves to not give in to hate was powerful and really affecting to me. The script of this film is so well written like the final reveal with Cardinal Benitez which was so unexpected hearing there was a twist at the end had no idea that’s where it was going to go it worked so well for me and made sense for the character. The main thing in the script I want to praise is how it explores the different points of views of all the characters with nuance not taking the low hanging fruit it could have done easily as someone who isn’t really into religion, I appreciated that it made it so interesting, challenging, and entertaining as a viewer.

The final I want to talk about is the score it makes the film feel like a thriller along with Berger’s direction makes the film move at such a great pace and that there are backstabbing’s about to go down. Final thoughts is I loved this film it’s so refreshing to see a film that tackles a subject like this with intelligence, nuance, and style when so many bad movies that try to be about something just feel like they are screaming and finger pointing at you this never does that if you can see Conclave in a theater please do or when it’s on physical media or VOD I don’t think you will be disappointed I will give it a 4 and half out of 5.