Review
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Title: Conclave
Released: October 2024
Director: Edward Berger
Screenplay: Peter Straughan from a novel by Robert Harris
Running Time: 2 Hours
Rating: PG
Reviewed by Kevin Folkman for the Association for Mormon Letters
“Certainty is the great enemy of unity,” Ralph Fiennes’ character tells the assembled cardinals gathered to select a new pope in the movie Conclave. This statement about faith, where you act without certain knowledge and hope for the best outcome, became omnipresent throughout the film. Acting in the absence of certainty drove the narrative, affecting different characters in different ways, but always adding a layer of suspense to the action. After viewing the film, it struck me that this was a movie for all audiences, not just Catholic, not just for the religious-minded, but also for the entirety of our increasingly secular society.
Conclave begins with the death of an unnamed but universally loved Pope and the assembling of a conclave to select his replacement. Ralph Fiennes stars as American Cardinal Lawrence, who serves as the Dean of the College of Cardinals charged with leading the conclave’s process. As in an actual conclave, the cardinals are sequestered from any outside influences, with no electronic devices, newspapers, or outside communications with anyone, as well as shutters over the windows. The choice of a new pope will profoundly affect the world outside, but the outside world is blocked away completely until the world forces its way into the proceedings.
As the cardinals assemble, we meet Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow), an American with obvious ambitions; Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), perhaps the previous pope’s closest friend; a universally loved African Cardinal Ayedemi; and Cardinal Tedesco, also ambitious and anxious to move the church back into its more traditional forms with Latin-only liturgy, conservative social positions, and an Italian pope. When a mystery cardinal appears, having been secretly appointed by the previous pope, more uncertainty is introduced.
In true suspense fashion, the conclave goes forward, portrayed primarily through dialogue that felt so authentic that it moved me emotionally on multiple occasions. Faith, doubt, pride, and ambition all play a part, but it is faith that holds the center, buttressed by sincere doubt. Like the architecture of the Sistine Chapel, where much of the action takes place, the ceiling that Michelangelo painted to promote faith is held up by the solid walls that attempt, yet fail, to hold the world at bay. Over the period of a few days, as the balloting goes forward, factions wax and wane in power, ambitions come undone, and secrets are revealed. Of special note is that women, nuns who serve food and clean tables, suddenly take a brief central role when Sister Agnes, played by Isabella Rossellini, declares to a startled collection of cardinals, “We women have no part in this, but we have eyes and ears, and we see and hear things!”
As Fiennes’ character, Lawrence, tries to steer this diverse group of individuals through their sacred obligation, he discovers both the limits of his faith and the limits of his doubt as well. On more than one occasion, he is captivated as he looks to the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, focusing not on portrayals of the saints and prophets but of what appears to be a soul in torment. Lawrence tells his closest friends among the cardinals that the dead Pope had specifically appointed him to shepherd this conclave, knowing full well the doubts that Lawrence harbors. Certainty evades Lawrence until the end, where a final ballot elects the new pope, and a final secret is revealed. Lawrence arrives at this point where his faith and doubt coincide, with neither being able to exist fully without the other. Lawrence seems to finally be at peace.
Even as a member of the LDS faith, this portrayal of a uniquely Catholic ritual moved me deeply in ways that I had not imagined. Just as we reserve our most sacred ordinances and rituals for a select group in our temples, Catholicism’s everyday rituals are only a stepping stone to this ultimate ritual of selecting a new pope. Suspenseful, intelligent, and intimately shot, this film should garner multiple Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Actor for Ralph Fiennes. Stanley Tucci is as solid as ever, and John Lithgow plays his role with just the right combination of authority and duplicity. Well cast, well-acted, well directed, with ever-increasing suspense, this is an excellent exploration of the role of faith, doubt, and hope in an increasingly secular world. In other words, there are lessons for all of us about the real world we all live in.