★★★★1/2
Lies. Deception. Manipulation. Strategy. A game of chess on a global scale. Every move calculated, every alliance scrutinized. A complex and riveting contest of strategy and influence. Edward Berger takes a process as intimate and holy as the conclave and turns it into something thrilling that echoes the scheming, backstabbing nature and intrigue of Game of Thrones and Succession while also feeling strikingly relevant. Conclave is a meticulously constructed behind-closed-doors thriller where religion and politics clash and the souls of petty men are tested for a chance at supreme power.
Conclave is a film about choosing the least objectionable candidate to prevent undoing decades of progress. Hmm… sounds familiar. Not to get too political, but there is a reason this film was released when it was, and the overall challenging messages presented in the film could not be more relevant to the current political climate in not only the US but many other countries in the world.
I’m seeing a lot of enjoyably quippy Letterboxd/social media reviews saying that this is a funny movie about priests gossiping (“What if an episode of Gossip Girl took place entirely at the Vatican????”), and that isn’t untrue—but it also neglects to mention that it’s a very earnest and profoundly soul-stirring picture about the tension of faith, the desperate search for certainty, and the true purpose of the church in the world. This is the kind of well-staged ”men in rooms” drama that feels like it could’ve been made in the 1940s, or the 90s. Imagine an Aaron Sorkin film (The Social Network, Moneyball, A Few Good Men) in the Catholic Church. That is Conclave.
The ensemble is outstanding with Ralph Fiennes delivering a performance that is as nuanced as it is commandingly powerful. The taut atmosphere is amplified by a pulse-pounding score, and immersive sound design, though moments of over-the-top levity occasionally breaks the tension, adding an unexpected layer of entertainment to this riveting high-stakes election. It's one of the most riveting, immaculately crafted films of the year — a masterclass in classic Hollywood filmmaking brilliantly directed by Edward Berger who most recently made All Quiet on the Western Front.
There’s this "rule" in film editing: don’t show the door closing; just cut to the other side. It's meant to be a reminder to avoid unnecessary or mundane sequences. Conclave ignores that entirely. Characters pause, and shuffle around between lines, as their sneakers squeak on Italian marble. They actually eat and swallow food without cuts, and stop in the middle of important dialogue just to make a Nespresso in real time. People are calling this a thriller (and I agree), but it's also a Vatican hangout movie. I couldn’t care less about the subject matter, yet I haven’t felt this engrossed in a film in a while. It's all the "fluff" that Berger includes that made everything really work for me. It has so much rich texture. One of the best of the year - and it's because you see the doors close.
This is the kind of awards season crowd pleaser that really hits all of the right buttons. Excellent performances across the board. Narrative twists that both make sense and completely subvert expectations for a film surrounding Catholicism. Visually stunning. It’s a blast.
I also enjoyed it because it’s a very (very very) progressive film dressed in the most conservative package imaginable. Very of this moment. I think Conclave has one of the most profoundly soul-stirring and theologically provocative endings of any movie I've seen in a while. It's no wonder that lots of people in the typical target audience for films like this are baffled by it. But I loved it so much.
Conclave is an incredibly entertaining thriller that peels back the many layers of selecting a new Pope and is anything but boring. A compelling, relevant watch about the state of leadership and elections in our modern world.
Succession is my favourite show, and here I got a whole movie of it just set in the Vatican! Brilliance.
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