Conclave: This enthralling papal thriller is a must-watch

Tense and unnerving, Ralph Fiennes’ Pope thriller raises a ton of provocative questions for Christians. 

“Certainty is the great enemy of unity”. These words are uttered by Ralph Fiennes’s Cardinal Lawrence in the new psychological thriller Conclave, but it’s just one nugget of wisdom that can be well applied to our era of political and religious polarisation.

Based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris, the film sees Cardinal Lawrence tasked with leading one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events, the selection of a new Pope.  

I know what you’re thinking. That doesn’t exactly sound the sirens for riveting cinema, but in the hands of director Edward Berger, Conclave is utterly enthralling. Berger directed the Oscar-winning anti-war film All Quiet On The Western Front, and he once again proves a dab hand at creating and maintaining suspense. 

We’re first introduced to Cardinal Lawrence as he marches to the Casa Santa Marta in Vatican City where the Pope has died of a heart attack. Surrounded by his closest confidantes, the Pope’s death is not deemed suspicious, but the foreboding music and drawn-out close-ups suggest everything is not as it seems.  

With the Pope out of the picture, a Hunger Games-style race to obtain power begins as the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders gather from around the world and lock themselves away in the Vatican halls. But instead of bloody murder, its rumour, scandal, and conspiracy that prove the most potent of weapons to use against your fellow Cardinals. Let the games begin!  

Fiennes is excellent - holding the film’s weaving subplots together and slowly emerging from the quietly resolute Dean of the College we’re first introduced to.

While you’ll be left praying that no church leader ever acts like this in real life, on screen the ensemble cast of Cardinals are a joy to watch. There’s a fragility that sits beneath the bravado of egos vying for leadership. Sergio Castellitto proves frightening as the populist Cardinal Tedesco. Stanley Tucci is perfectly cast as the terminally unimpressed Cardinal Bellini, and Brían F. O’Byrne is hilarious as the nervy, gossip-spreading Monsignor Raymond O’Malley. 

Volker Bertelmann’s soundtrack is unsettling in all the right ways. The voting scenes are where the film and soundtrack captivate most – every scribble of a pen, fold of a ballot paper, or glaring look managing to unnerve. One scene in the chapel made me lurch forward in breathless awe. 

Conclave is certainly not a Christian film, but it is brilliantly made and it raises vital questions for Christians of all denominations (not just Catholics). Not least, have we been guilty of letting charisma trump character in church leadership? How much should we hold leaders responsible for historical sin? How do we bridge the social and political divides in our churches?   

Catholic viewers will be pleased to see this film has no interest in glamorising the demonic or exorcisms (unlike Russell Crowe’s supernatural horror The Pope’s Exorcist), but it does take a jab at the perceived moral hypocrisies within the Catholic church. Nods are made to historic sexual abuse, but the sharp writing and performances mean Conclave does much more than caricature evil Cardinals. Instead the film points to the humanity, and thus brokenness, of all of us. It’s a welcome reminder that followers of Christ are not defined by how ‘good’ we are, but how quick we are to say sorry. It’s not about how clean our track record is, but how willing we are to come clean.  

Christian films have long been criticised for lacking subtlety and forcing a message down your throat. Conclave does none of these things. Instead, it does a fine job of posing uncomfortable questions for the Church, without making that it’s raison d’etre. In the end, what defines Conclave is simply that it’s a brilliant film - veering from murder mystery to tense thriller, to satirical black comedy with consummate ease. Aside from the film’s final twist, which may prove unnecessarily provocative for some, this is award-bothering big screen entertainment that you won’t want to miss. 

Conclave will be released in US cinemas on 1 November and in the UK on 25 November