'Conclave' Hides Its Ambitions in a Delectable Political Thriller

If you only see one movie set in the Vatican this year...

In Conclave, Edward Berger’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front, the director takes viewers inside the Vatican for the conclave process where cardinals elect a new pontiff. But once you drill down past Volker Bertelmann’s propulsive score, the terrific craftsmanship that permeates every aspect of the production, and the bounty of incredible performances, you can see that this fleetfooted thriller is a sharp examination of how the trappings of tradition and power obscure the human frailties that permeate any longstanding organization.

Conclave makes its mission statement clear in the prologue. The Pope, after an illness of roughly a year, has passed away from heart failure, and now it’s up to Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), the Dean of the College of Cardinals, to oversee the conclave. But before we even get to the political wrangling about the direction of the Church and the cardinals jockeying for position, we see two procedures. There is the ritual of cordoning off the pontiff’s quarters. Red ribbon is draped across the door. A wax seal is delicately poured across the ribbon. It is the most immaculate “Caution: Do Not Enter” tape ever conceived by man. But the film’s title does not appear above this gorgeously rendered ritual. Instead, it comes afterward in an overhead shot of the pontiff in a white body bag, having his body jostled in the back of a coroner’s van as the streetlights pass overhead. Berger tells us that while the Vatican is concerned with rituals established over centuries, our story will not forget the immediacy of the present, even if it’s mundane and unglamorous.

Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence in Conclave | Image via Focus Features