Review - Conclave
Directed by: Edward Berger
Written by: Peter Straughan
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini
Running Time: 120 Minutes
Rating: 4/5
The Pope is dead. The Vatican is sealed shut. Let them talk.
Edward Berger follows up his Oscar-sweeper All Quiet on the Western Front with Conclave, a pulsing political thriller set inside the confines of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Based on Robert Harris’ 2016 novel of the same name; the Holy See, made up of cardinals and archbishops are left with the ardous task of electing the new holy Father of the Catholic Church. A psychological thriller set in one of the most revered and closely guarded holy sites in the world - and of course, the Catholic Church. When the doors close, these Men of God find themselves at a crossroads of faith, greed and lust for power. Candidates for the papacy challenge their faith, their brothers in Christ and their own emotional and moral ideologies - all for a chance for the Holy Throne. Conclave is a powder-keg that layers each of its power players with a match, ready to light and shake the future of Church at any cost.
Ralph Fiennes is Cardinal Lawrence, the Dean of the Vatican and Papacy; the de-facto consiglieri in the holy hierarchy. Only second to the Pope, Lawrence must democratically elect a new Pope from the college of Cardinals - with the only way to achieve a majority to secure seventy-two votes out of hundred plus Cardinals representing international diocese around the world. Conclave unfolds like a political thriller, revealing its power players early in Cardinals Bellini, Tremblay, Adeyemi and Tedesco and key supporting game changers in Benitez and Sister Agnes. Lawrence then finds himself under tremendous pressure; that of the world at large, but also the weight of secrecy, rumors and accusations that begin to mount in midst of the conclave.
The film moves with a brisk pace, a thunderous score that raptures between the walls of the Vatican. Berger moves swiftly - no time is wasted and no page left unturned. Every scene is tight and unravels a new key piece of information to the audience and Cardinal Lawrence. It isn’t fair for me to call this film a straight detective thriller, but more-so a schemer of a film, a political who-dun-it, with liars and backstabbers hiding in the shadow of God. Berger adds a meticulous intensity in every frame; staying steady on a close up of Fiennes at a crux of a reveal, or a slow zoom into the closed door of the Pope’s bedroom. A deafening hum bellows in the background of every conversation, adding to the tension and escalation to the schemers and liars in the conclave.
While the film doesn’t necessarily falter in its narrative and filmmaking; Conclave does lose a little bit of steam in its denouement. The film pulls a Return of the King and it feels like the ending was about to cut to the credits - but it kept going. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it does feel like the film’s powerful conclusion is less cathartic in its effect.
Edward Berger’s Conclave is definitely going to be a player in next year’s Oscar Race. Not necessarily a front runner, but a powerful vehicle to showcase Fiennes, Tucci, Berger and the film’s score and cinematography. Thrilling in its search for the truth, Conclave is fierce in its confidence and earth-shattering tension. A bottle drama of electoral allegories and the state of human dignity and honor; Conclave will keep you guessing until the final vote is read and the battle lines drawn.
