Conclave (2024) - Ralph Fiennes leads Edward Berger’s excellent cardinal cat fight

Credit: allocine.fr

Ralph Fiennes leads a star-studded cast with the perfect blend of hesitation and conviction in Edward Berger’s papal drama Conclave, a tale of one of the world’s most ancient events – the selection of a new pope. It’s tense, it’s thrilling, and more than anything else, it’s infused with just the right mix of drama and comedy, so brilliantly interwoven that one is never sure whether to laugh or not.

Following the death of the Holy Father, cardinals from across the world travel to the Vatican, hauling suitcases, iPhones and vapes. A ground level shot of an accumulation of cigarette butts outside the Sistine Chapel, where the vote takes place, announces Conclave as a somewhat atypical film. Under the leadership of Cardinal-Dean Thomas Lawrence (Fiennes), the cardinals gather to appoint a new pope. Five main candidates slowly emerge as frontrunners – these are Joshua Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) of Nigeria, a social conservative, Joseph Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow) of Canada, whose final conversation with the Holy Father arouses significant suspicion, and Aldo Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), a liberalist Lawrence and his fellow Americans agree to support in order to block the fifth candidate, Goffredo Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), a far-right Italian who desires the Church to return to traditional values. After the first vote, Lawrence himself is put forward as a potential candidate, as is the virtually unknown Vincent Cardinal Benitez, the Mexican archbishop of Kabul who was appointed by the Holy Father in secret. The conclave would not be complete, however, without a scandal or two – as the race to the top grows more fiery, Lawrence embarks on an investigation of his own, as secrets are revealed and names gradually crossed out.

Without necessarily sounding as such, Conclave is edge-of-seat material: the subject is gripping, a new shocking revelation unravelled at every corner, with the cinematography and colour palette to support it. An overhead shot of the cardinals re-entering the Sistine Chapel, red robes flourishing under an accumulation of beige umbrellas (Tremblay, at this point in shame, is the only one without) is particularly spectacular (so much so that the person in front of me thought it justifiable to take out a phone and snap a picture). Though undoubtfully stylish, it does at times veer dangerously into the pretentious or the overdone, slapping CONCLAVE in aggressive yellow lettering over the body of the recently deceased Pope like a reminder that this is, in fact, a ‘different’ type of religious tale. Where it loses points however is no doubt the shudder-inducing attention to sound in an effort to acknowledge that yes, silence within the conclave is loud – fingers running along ballot paper, shoes echoing on a marble floor, nails teasing the plastic-enveloped papal vestments, accompanied by the screeching chords of an ill-placed violin that goes so far as to ruin a particularly moving speech Cardinal Benitez delivers at a dire time of need.

A strong narrative, supported by excellent performances from Fiennes and co, are however what keep Conclave’s passionate heart beating. This is a story about a discordant church, in which nothing can be agreed upon – in fact, one of the only true moments of morality is provided by Sister Agnes, honestly played by Isabella Rossellini, who clarifies the behind-the-scenes for the entire conclave then retreats with a smug bow. The church evidently seems in crisis – but so is the man at the heart of it. Conclave, inevitably, is really about Lawrence, who carries the film with a quiet suffering. He is a man of many facets: poised and deliberate, desperately attached to his need to be judicious, yet prone to sudden outbursts and ill-advised decisions, often accompanied by tears. The tension on the man’s shoulders is palpable, and Fiennes, present in every scene, does not shy away from Lawrence’s inner turmoil and contradictions. Even when he delivers a homily encouraging the cardinals to choose a pope who will embrace doubt, his intentions, still, remain unclear, interpreted by many as a sign of his ambition. But what Conclave also shows is a multitude of men who falter – though Cardinal Bellini declares his averseness to becoming Pope early on, he is outraged at the thought that Lawrence should want to take his place as candidate. Tremblay and Adeyemi, similarly, act out of desire for power, without thinking about the consequences or the reasoning behind certain demands made of them. All have lied, sinned, pouted, and, God forbid, vaped – and yet they persist, drawn to this higher order out of a mixture of devotion, fascination and doubt. If Conclave teaches us one thing, it’s that certainty is never a good thing.