Edward Berger’s follow-up to All Quiet On The Western Front is a slickly enjoyable papal popcorn piece about faith in institutions. Conclave may be set in the Vatican, but it’s practically modelled on American politics: one character even compares one of the movie’s many backroom meetings to a US political convention. And yet, Berger’s rich detail is specific, nicely combining the worlds of political and religious power play.
The movie opens on a distraught Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) making his way to the Holy Father’s chambers to confirm the Pope’s demise and prepare to elect his successor. Soon, all the pieces are in play, as Peter Straughan’s clockwork screenplay (adapted from the novel by Robert Harris) swiftly establishes each character and plot point like dominoes to be knocked down by hubris, interpersonal tensions hidden by smiling faces. The result is a wildly entertaining balancing act of egos, passive-aggressive battles quietly fought by self-proclaimed righteous men.
Rossellini is Conclave’s secret weapon, from her put-upon reactions as she observes in silence, to the way she commands an entire room with little more than a curtsy.
Each and every performance is worth lauding. On the one side stands an English-speaking faction (mirroring the political dominance of the West) as they try to elect a progressive pope at any cost. They include Fiennes’ English Lawrence, who struggles with his faith while running the conclave; Stanley Tucci’s American Cardinal Bellini, whose humility disguises a political savvy; and John Lithgow’s shifty Québécois Cardinal Tremblay, whose politeness harbours unpleasant secrets.
Their biggest adversaries include the cartoonish, animated Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), a delightfully moustache-twirling Italian traditionalist, and the more personable Nigerian underdog Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), who embodies the film’s notions of political and personal duality. He appears to be a modern choice, but his harmful beliefs and past transgressions complicate his legacy.
Caught in the middle of all this are kindly, Mexican newcomer Cardinal Benitez (Carlos Diehz), secretly stationed in Kabul, and Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini), whose own job to serve the cardinals clashes with her duty to protect her convent. Rossellini is Conclave’s secret weapon, from her put-upon reactions as she observes in silence, to the way she commands an entire room with little more than a curtsy.
As conspiracies come to light, Berger’s winding plot unfolds in tight confines — the cardinals are, after all, sequestered — leading to breathless claustrophobia, aided by cold interiors practically devoid of colour. All that stands out is the cardinals’ bright-red attire, matching the passion and bloodlust with which they navigate the movie’s shifting political sands. It all unfolds with such precision: an unlikely potboiler that Berger presents not only thoughtfully, but viciously and deliciously.