Conclave (2024)
The 35th New Orleans Film Festival
closed in fine fashion on October 22 with Conclave, a thriller centered
around the secretive process Catholic cardinals use to select a new pope.
Directed by Edward Berger (All Quiet
on the Western Front, as well as the excellent Sundance TV show Deutschland
83) and based on Robert Harris' 2016 novel of the same name, Conclave opens
with the death of the pope. Ralph Fiennes plays Lawrence, the cardinal tasked
with organizing and running the conclave to choose his replacement. All voters
must be completely sequestered from the outside world.
A lot of political maneuvering follows,
with a reform-minded cardinal (Stanley Tucci) vying against a conservative
(Sergio Castellitto) and a slick politically-minded cardinal (John Lithgow),
among others. There's also the last-minute appearance of an otherwise unknown
cardinal (Carlos Diehz) who had been stationed in Afghanistan.
There is very little violence in Conclave,
but it has the feel of a political thriller as Lawrence tries to do the right
thing while dealing with his own crisis of faith. Many of the cardinals are not
exactly what they present themselves to be, and he must make hard choices about
how to deal with their pasts. The final twist is likely one audiences will not see
coming.
While Conclave may not quite be "best
list" material, it is a movie made solely for adults and that's always
refreshing to see in the superhero blockbuster era.
