Wow, this time we review a picture just a couple of months old. Good director Edward Berger guides some fine performances in a drama about backroom deals and dark secrets in the voting to elect a new pope. The movie looks lavish in 4K — entire Vatican chapels were duplicated at Cinecittà — and the ensemble acting is first class: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Brían F. O’Byrne, Carlos Diehz, Lucian Msamati, Isabella Rossellini, Sergio Castellitto.

Conclave
4K Ultra-HD + Blu-ray + Digital
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
2024 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 120 min. / Street Date February 11, 2025 / Available from Amazon / 33.49
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Brían F. O’Byrne, Carlos Diehz, Lucian Msamati, Isabella Rossellini, Sergio Castellitto.
Cinematography: Stéphane Fontaine
Production Designer: Suzie Davies
Supervising Art Director: Roberta Federico
Costume Design: Lisy Christi
Film Editor: Nick Emerson
Music: Volker Bertelmann
Screenplay by Peter Straughan from the book by Robert Harris
Produced by Alice Dawson, Robert Harris, Juliette Howell, Michael A. Jackman, Tessa Ross
Directed by Edward Berger

Here’s something different … a review of a high profile new disc, a month before street date. It’s fading from theaters but presumably doing big business on Peacock. Conclave received plenty of positive buzz for its ensemble of fine actors, and also for its art direction. Several large spaces in the Vatican were reproduced at CineCittà; the picture looks authentic in every respect.

Director Edward Berger is riding a modest wave of approval as well. He made the well-received new version of All Quiet on the Western Front two years back, but his claim to fame in my book is the fave German miniseries  Deutschland 83. Conclave’s style is nothing like those two pictures. Screenwriter Peter Staughan has solid credits as well, on the 2011  Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and also also the eccentric  The Men Who Stare at Goats.

Conclave is from a book but it feels more like an adapted play. It all takes place within grandiose Vatican meeting halls, and in an off-limits residence facility for cardinals. The settings emphasize new security procedures — each cardinal has a dorm-like room with an electronic lock. The residence building is made of marble, so it feels like a mausoleum. The Pontiff’s room is at the end of the hall.

The drama takes place in just a few tense days as 100 + cardinals deemed sufficiently lofty to conceivably become pope, take part in voting sessions to choose a successor. After the buildup for Conclave as an important drama, the surprise is that the acting is at a slightly higher pitch than the material.

The pope dies in his chambers; which means that Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, the Dean of the College of Cardinals (Ralph Fiennes) must oversee an election done by an age-old procedure, a secret-ballot conclave. Lawrence doesn’t like this managerial position but believes that the pope made him take it because he wanted the next pope chosen by somebody who can be trusted. Lawrence and his assistant, Monsignor Raymond O’Malley (Brían F. O’Byrne) must immediately deal with what seems a great many petty maneuverings by various cardinals. Five or so would like to be chosen and some are not at all humble about their candidacy. Lawrence is himself a contender, so tries to be rigorously neutral.

Cardinal Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci) is a favorite contender. An American liberal, he approaches the election as a game and actively tries to influence colleagues. He thinks that Lawrence’s quiet, ethical approach is unrealistic.

That’s because Bellini fears Cardinal Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), a popular, outspoken and somewhat intimidating Italian. Tedesco takes every opportunity to advocate returning to conservative principles. He wishes the Church were still conducting Masses in Latin.

Also not hiding their ambitions are Cardinal Joshua Adeyemei (Lucian Msamati), a popular Nigerian with a pleasant disposition, and Cardinal Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow), a Canadian who worked close to the pope, and is very rule-oriented.

From left field comes Cardinal Vincent Benitez, who O’Malley at first wants to turn away. But Benitez shows up with papers that attest that the previous pope made him a cardinal in secret because of his dangerous assignment in Kabul. The Mexican Benitez has worked in several trouble spots in the Middle East.

Lawrence believes that the focus should be on what’s good for the Church, and is more than bothered by these ambitious cardinals vying for attention. Lawrence at first tells O’Malley not to tell him about supposed offenses by the candidates: the conclave is supposed to be a time of voting, not investigation.

But Lawrence finds he can’t remain neutral. One candidate seems to be hiding information about the pope’s final hours. Janusz Wozniak (Jacek Koman), an official called the Prefect of the Papal Household, tells Lawrence that the pope demanded a cardinal’s resignation on that last day.

Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini) and her nuns run the cardinals’ residence quarters and kitchen. She at first blocks Lawrence’s questions about an incident in the dining room involving a nun; it doesn’t take much to discover than another candidate is hiding a serious infraction in his past. Lawrence finds his effort to determine the truth opposed by accusations that he is trying steer the election. Even his good friend Bellini asks if he covets the job for himself.

Frustrated by a popular candidate’s accusations, Lawrence has no choice but to break a special seal on the previous pope’s quarters … to look for more evidence of decisions made on that last day.

All these accusations and reversals play out between secret ballots. The tension becomes more difficult when the proceedings are interrupted by terrorist activity outside. Some of the cardinals must finish a vote with a few minor cuts, and their perfect robes covered with dust.

Conclave impresses — it’s a real movie — but we were a little underwhelmed by the drama. Some of the casting and writing quickly separates deserving from undeserving candidates. It’s not very subtle. A basic good guy comes off as a backroom schemer, A popular blowhard broadcasts his bigoted opinions, convinced that the majority of cardinals share them. Another cardinal thinks that a long-ago offense that should have bounced him out of the Church, isn’t relevant and shouldn’t disqualify him. A defensive,, officious cardinal has such a short fuse, you wouldn’t want him as your real estate agent, let alone to head the Catholic Church.

These are supposed to be experienced church office-holders, but few of them can see beyond their own egos. Everybody has flaws and secrets, so the best way to look good in the voting would be to shut up and act Holy. Nope, several candidates disqualify themselves by throwing scenes in public. Nobody wants a high school hothead to be the pope.

There’s not a great deal of subtlety in any of this, which is why we appreciate the excellent performances. Ralph Fiennes earns our sympathy and approval right away. He’s a sincerely reluctant candidate, with a selfless spirit that seems in short supply in the College. The best thing about the movie is Cardinal Lawrence’s effort to take a high road with the election — he’s supposed to manage it, not guide any of the voting.

Yet the drama still disappoints. Although performed with great skill, the candidates don’t have much depth. They’re either unaware that they aren’t right for the job, or they’re openly mad for power and authority. And what do you know, a Dark Horse candidate shows up; a cardinal nobody ever heard of. Other aspirants blow their chances right in the meeting hall — one even throws a hateful tantrum. That leaves the Dark Horse free to give a speech that could have been spoken by Jesus of Nazareth. Are the candidates that distinguishable, or is this a case of ‘Good P.R. Conquers All?’  Whatever the answer, the voting reveals a pack of egotists more suitable for a politicized city council.

The movie is mostly dialogues, and all of the actors are good … Stanley Tucci, Brían F. O’Byrne, John Lithgow, Ralph Fiennes. Lucian Msamati’s cardinal is gentle and inoffensive. We learn that Carlos Diehz, who gives a very strong impression, has only been acting since the beginning of COVID. He was by trade an architect.

Conclave reminds us of two dramas with similarities. Reginald Rose and Sidney Lumet’s  12 Angry Men has a similar situation where several votes are taken; just as in Conclave prejudiced men make sudden hateful speeches, invalidating themselves. We also thought of Ernest Lehman and Robert Wise’s  Executive Suite. A pack of company V.P.s maneuver and cheat to grab a chairmanship that has opened up. The ‘natural’ choice is again a guy who’d never promote himself, yet proves his suitability with an unrehearsed statement of values.

We like the characterizations in Conclave but there are really no surprises or mysteries. If a bad candidate doesn’t disqualify himself, a document shows up that does the trick. Weirdly, after talking about the need to be hands-off amid all the mudslinging, Cardinal Lawrence has Sister Agnes circulate 100 copies of some Papal notes he has found, and distribute them to the entire College. Another candidate goes down in flames. That’s pretty hands-on.  ^*

With those massive sets to work with, director Berger has no trouble making Conclave feel big. He wisely doesn’t bother with spectacular scenes, that kind that can now be manufactured in a computer. We hear the huge crowds outside awaiting the election news delivered by smoke signals, but don’t see them. It’s a far cry from the papal election in 1968’s  The Shoes of the Fisherman, where the director continually cuts away to reporter David Janssen watching 100,000 people waiting in the square, filling us in on the details of what’s happening inside. Conclave’s screenplay somehow manages to make us understand what’s going on, without obvious expositional passages.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment’s 4K Ultra-HD + Blu-ray + Digital of Conclave looks great on disc. The extremely rich images are often much darker than we’d expect. Director Berger makes every scene look attractive without showing off his sets too ostentatiously. We’re told that the designers tweaked the colors on all the official robes and regalia, just enough to look better on camera. With all the cardinals wearing those robes we pay more attention to faces. Isabella Rossellini’s part is small but her face is just fascinating to look at.

The two extras, a 16-minute making-of piece and a commentary, are on both the 4K and the Blu-ray. Edward Berger has a lot to say about how the film came together; it took years to get it off the ground. The movie is certainly pleasing, especially visually. I would imagine that they’re pushing Ralph Fiennes for Oscar nods?  This is one of the few non-blockbuster films this year that has received old-fashioned media exposure.

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Conclave
4K Ultra-HD + Blu-ray + Digital rates:
Movie: Very Good
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements:
Audio Commentary with director Edward Berger
Featurette: Sequestered: Inside Conclave.
Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? YES; Subtitles: English (feature only)
Packaging: One 4K Ultra-HD + Blu-ray + Digital in Keep case
Reviewed: January 10, 2025
(7257conc)

^*   Lawrence’s actions, although for the greater good, remind me of a high school secretary in a story told by Garrison Keillor: for all class elections the woman would throw out votes for candidates she thought were unworthy, or had been subjects of negative gossip in the school office rumor mill. She was proud to perform an important function in the democratic process, you know: getting rid of those unfortunate ‘uninformed votes.’

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