Rent Conclave (2024)

Clever, Intriguing Thriller - Conclave review by GI

This is a broody conspiracy thriller full of intrigue even though the setting borders on the laughable. The plot centres on the selection of a new Pope by the Cardinals who gather at the Vatican and are hidden away busily voting on and on until a new Pope is selected. This procedure is apparently a secretive and traditional almost ceremonial procedure so who would believe that out of it this story of jealousies, dark secrets and devious plots has been woven. It really sucks you in and the performances are first rate especially Ralph Fiennes as an English Cardinal who has been charged with running the process known as a 'conclave'. There are some early favourites including Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), a very right wing bigot and Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow, deliciously conniving) who harbours some troublesome secrets and Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), who claims to be reluctant candidate but is he? All this plays out in a rather well written and superbly directed film that keeps you hooked. A near, compelling drama that is well worth checking out.

Entertaining if ultimately superficial piece depicting the power dynamics of a papal election - Conclave review by PD

The Pope is dead, and after a three-week time jump, the world’s most powerful cardinals gather in Vatican City, their mission to elect a new leader from among their ranks.

As one might expect, cardinals immediately splinter off into factions and begin scheming, hoping to put forth candidates that represent their viewpoints while maintaining just enough broad appeal to garner votes from the larger populous of peers (if this sounds familiar, that’s because Conclave operates as a thinly veiled allegory of American politics). The previous Pope’s reign opened the door for more progressive policies within the historically conservative Catholic church, and a small subset - including Cardinals Lawrence and Bellini - are terrified that other cardinals see this conclave as an opportunity to correct course. To Bellini, Lawrence, and allies, the worst-case scenario would be an ascension of openly racist and homophobic Italian candidate Tedesco. Our perspective is placed squarely within Lawrence and this small team pushing for Bellini, a group close to the former Pope and as such carrying an entitlement that can make them difficult to root for, even if we understand and agree with their agenda.

Conclave’s best scenes are the voting sessions in the Sistine Chapel, and the narrative wisely takes its time getting to that dramatic first vote. Like all things in the Catholic Church, the process is archaic: handwritten paper votes are placed in an urn and the results are read aloud. Each vote-count offers an endless array of possibilities, whether a frontrunner extending a lead or losing momentum, or a surprise new candidate joining the mix. Despite their frequency, these scenes never lose their power. There is a classic murder-mystery feeling to how front-runners are dispatched (in this case through scandal rather than outright murder) one by one - when Bellini accuses Cardinal Lawrence of harbouring secret ambitions of becoming Pope himself–despite his insistence otherwise–it’s hard not to believe that Lawrence might be carefully biding his time, content to be the last man standing. Meanwhile, newcomer Cardinal Benítez represents the classic mysterious stranger about whom we know very little other than a secret stint at a hospital in Switzerland.

The film deftly tracks changing power dynamics so that we’re always aware of who’s in the lead and who might be ready to make a push, with the focus squarely on a left-wing-v-right wing setup, theological ideas being, for better or worse, largely excluded, although Cardinal Lawrence gives a powerful sermon about the importance of doubt and dangers of conviction–an important reminder that faith cannot exist without uncertainty. In another standout scene, Benítez is admonished by Lawrence for continuing to vote for him, for God doesn’t only use followers who are ready and able to serve: it’s a nice reminder to stick to one’s convictions even when opting for a “lesser evil” might be the prudent decision.

Sadly, however, the end-tying last act is all rather difficult to take seriously, and a rapid succession of late developments only serve to undercut all of what went before, leaving us with the impression that this is a film more of an airport paperback than moral treatise. All in all, watchable enough but for me ultimately all a bit superficial.

Top notch thriller - Conclave review by AER

Based on a Robert Harris novel, Conclave is an airport paperback in disguise, and it so engrossing. This is a very tense film with twist after twist, some a bit hard to swallow, but nonetheless sold by an excellent cast led by Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini. I loved every minute of it. Never before have you heard such bombastic music to accompany the shuffling of paper as you will in Conclave! haha. Recommended for a different kind of 'police procedural-style' drama. Excellent, intelligent and as cinema should be, exciting.

9 out of 10.