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In Theaters Now
- 2024
- PG
- Ascot Elite Entertainment Group
- 2 h
- 2024
- PG
- Ascot Elite Entertainment Group
- 2 h
Summary Conclave follows one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events – selecting a new Pope. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vati...
Directed By: Edward Berger
Written By: Peter Straughan, Robert Harris
In Theaters Now
- 2024
- PG
- Ascot Elite Entertainment Group
- 2 h
- 2024
- PG
- Ascot Elite Entertainment Group
- 2 h
Conclave
79
6.5
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Summary Conclave follows one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events – selecting a new Pope. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vati...
Directed By: Edward Berger
Written By: Peter Straughan, Robert Harris
Where to Watch
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 45 Critic Reviews
79
93% Positive
42 Reviews
42 Reviews
7% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 45 Critic Reviews
79
93% Positive
42 Reviews
42 Reviews
7% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The thriller is both a thought-provoking investigation into real-life themes and human flaws but also an undoubtedly entertaining exercise, one where the simple act of dropping off ballots becomes a crucial aspect of a scintillating, white-knuckle affair.
Ralph Fiennes delivers a master class in acting in this juicy, jolting mystery thriller in which director Edward Berger uses the fictional election of a new pope in Rome to mirror America’s own dirty politics. What fun! And the drama of It will pin you to your seat
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 53 User Ratings
6.5
74% Positive
39 Ratings
39 Ratings
8% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
19% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 53 User Ratings
6.5
74% Positive
39 Ratings
39 Ratings
8% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
19% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
Conclave is full of obviously beautiful architecture and surprisingly beautiful souls. The ongoing revelation of the film is that tension and intrigue are possible even when every player is too pious to tell a lie.
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As a person who was raised in the church from birth and currently serves as a pastor and senior leader within the local church community, this movie caused me to dig deeper in my spiritual understanding and faith. Many of the moments in the film resonated with me and the ending did not take me by surprise but reminded me of many things that I had lost sight of.
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Sleek, confident and peppered with delicious portraits in pursuit, deceit and evasion, the carnival of papal intrigue known as “Conclave” works like gangbusters.
Do not come to Conclave in search of some divine messages about power, corruption and lies percolating within a sacred space. Just embrace it for being the type of gobsmacking, pope-up-the-jams entertainment that will have you genuflecting with gratitude over its over-the-top ridiculousness.
The movie is at its best when it feels like a Vatican riff on 12 Angry Men, a concept that is enough to keep things flowing smoothly until the frustratingly “Hollywood” events of the final 20 minutes.
More airport paperback than theological treatise, Conclave is undeniably silly throughout, but its last-second reveals choreograph the sensibility too openly, undercutting much of what was masterfully unfurled up until that point.
None of it rings true; those who seek a serious dramatic inquiry into the inner workings of the church should look elsewhere.
IN A NUTSHELL:
The riveting movie is based on the Robert Harris novel of the same name that came out in 2016. Robert Harris co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Straughan.
The movie was directed by German-born Edward Berger, who also brought us All Quiet on the Western Front in 2022, which was nominated for 87 awards and won 57 of them!
Already, Conclave is receiving well-deserved Oscar buzz.
THINGS I LIKED:
The cast is absolutely fantastic and includes three Oscar nominees: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow. All three are sure to be nominated again for their roles in this movie. They were THAT good.
Other standouts in the film include Isabella Rossellini, Lucian Msamati, Sergio Castellitto, and, of course, Carlos Diehz.
The film is absolutely gorgeous to look at. Visually, it’s stunning. There are so many perfect vignettes that look like artistic masterpieces. The cinematography by Stephane Fontaine will probably get her nominated for awards for her work in this film.
Secrets and scandals are uncovered slowly enough, yet so constantly that keep you on the edge of your seat.
The film was shot in Rome, Italy. Nothing was actually filmed inside Vatican City, but the set designs are extremely convincing.
The twist at the end is generating a lot of buzz. No spoilers here! I had heard it was ridiculous and it did make several audience members I sat with in the theater laugh; however, I thought it was actually touching and even sweet. It provided insight on how our weaknesses can actually become strengths.
Many of the scenes take place in the famous Sistine Chapel at the Vatican. Of course, movies can’t actually be filmed inside Vatican City, but the set looks extremely convincing. I’ve been there twice and would readily return.
I love that the film illustrated the sweet, and often invisible, service of the nuns instead of only focusing on the cardinals. There are many ways to serve God and our fellow man.
The beautiful music by Volker Bertelmann was potent, especially when mixed with moments of only tension-filled sound effects.
I loved the subtle, visual moments that were filled with nuances. For example, we see a cardinal look out an open window as a light breeze blows on his face, suggesting the winds of change taking place inside the Vatican.
The turtles were a cute touch. I used to own 2 pet water turtles just like the ones shown in the movie!
THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:
Some viewers have complained that the film attacks the Catholic church and its traditional values by showing how flawed the leaders are. The flaws of humanity are exactly what the movie is about. None of us is perfect. It’s our flaws and weaknesses that often compel us to be humble in a world that often demands unrealistic expectations. Roman Catholic theology states that the pope is infallible…but an important distinction needs to be made. He is infallible when teaching doctrine and discussing matters of faith. He IS, however, allowed to make mistakes in other matters. The only man who never sinned was Jesus Christ.
I was worried that the movie would turn woke and bash Catholic faith. I do wish movies would portray Christians with more respect and not simple-minded buffoons, which is often the case in Hollywood films.
TIPS FOR PARENTS:
Kids will be bored.
No profanity. Yay!
Alcohol
Cigarettes
Italian and Spanish are spoken with and without subtitles.
Talk of an illegitimate baby
Talk of misconduct and rumors of scandals by previous popes and current cardinals
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[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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Conclave is a tense, intriguing, but underwhelming movie with great dialogues and good cinematography.
The best part about the writing are the dialogues, they felt natural and well-written. The story was great too, I loved how we got to know more and more about each character's past and intentions. Lawrence was a great protagonists, I had no problem with him not having big past mistakes or flaws. He was the perfect man to be elected even though he didn't realise. The build-up was tense and intriguing, but in the end it didn't really matter, because the final plot twist felt out of place. I expected something completely different, and while it's good that something else happened, it felt completely out of place, like it became a different movie.
The directing and the cinematography were the best part of the movie, it had a style and I loved it. The acting performances were really great too and I loved the soundtrack. The best part about this movie was recognizing the filming locations from other movies (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Spectre).
Conclave would be an exceptional movie, if it had a a satisfying conclusion.
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It’s more than a little frustrating when a film seemingly has all of the elements needed to make it work except the one that’s most crucial, the one that enables a production to brilliantly succeed or doom it to failure – the story. Such is the case with director Edward Berger’s latest, the much-anticipated, much-celebrated drama about the convening of a papal conclave to select a new pope. From a technical standpoint, the filmmaker has pulled together everything that should make this an epic picture – a gorgeous production design, stunning and inventive cinematography, and a stellar cast featuring superb performances by the likes of Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini, as well as fine turns by such lesser-known performers (at least to American audiences) as Lucian Msamati and Sergio Castellito. The picture also raises some insightful observations (though a little too infrequently for my tastes) about the current state of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly its foot-dragging on implementing reforms, the incessant high-profile scandals that have rocked the institution, and the rising tide of unflattering public perceptions among its increasingly skeptical practitioners, all of which weigh heavily on the College of Cardinals in determining who should be named as the new Holy Father. Unfortunately, though, the story and script leave a lot to be desired. For starters, much of the film’s opening act moves by at a glacial pace, frequently causing one’s eyelids to become more than a little heavy. As the picture moves into the meat of the story – the conclave itself – it waxes somewhat melodramatic, not unlike a glorified 1980s prime time TV soap opera. Its attempt to come across as an intrigue-laced thriller amounts to more than a succession of backstabbing segments in which the leading candidates to become the next pontiff are systematically eliminated through the revelation of skeletons in their respective closets. Finally, as the movie enters the stretch run, it throws in several twists and turns that either come completely out of left field (and somewhat implausibly at that) or that predictably materialize on cue thanks to the planting of patently obvious clues early on that were wholly impossible to ignore as the story plays out. Regrettably, these narrative foibles undermine all of the other fine attributes that this production has going for it, ultimately amounting to a case of being long on style but a little skimpy on substance, a shortcoming that also plagued Berger’s last feature outing, “All Quiet on the Western Front” (2022). Unlike many others who have been so profoundly moved and thoroughly captivated by this release, perhaps my not having been born and raised Roman Catholic has somehow prevented me from fully appreciating the depth and magnitude accorded to this offering’s contents. But, as someone who seeks to evaluate everything I screen on an equal footing, I can’t help but observe that “Conclave” simply doesn’t measure up when it comes to what it takes to make a genuine big screen epic.
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Production Company
Access Entertainment,
FilmNation Entertainment,
House Productions,
Indian Paintbrush
Release Date Oct 25, 2024
Duration 2 h
Rating PG
Tagline What happens behind these walls will change everything.
Awards
Middleburg Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Mill Valley Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
San Diego International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination