'Conclave' Review

Unimaginative political drama set at the Vatican fails to make any meaningful statement on the Church

Spoilers follow

There have only been two papal conclaves during my lifetime. I remember both of them as exciting events filled with mystery and anticipation. So, when the trailers for Conclave began to trickle out on social media, I began to feel that same excitement. Basing a film on the events of the election of a pope, whether the events are historical or not, is an extremely enticing and riveting premise for a film. Exploring the inner workings of the College of Cardinals as they clamor into the Sistine Chapel to elect the next holy pontiff is one of the most intriguing settings for a story. There are many routes directors and screenwriters can pursue to craft a titillating tale based on one of the Church’s more interesting subjects. Sadly, director Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) and screenwriter Peter Straughan, constrained to Robert Harris’ original novel, craft a story that is altogether plain and uninspired. 

Conclave begins with the death of the pope, which most real-life conclaves do. The film follows the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), as he makes the necessary preparations for the conclave as the cardinals arrive. The film does an excellent job of showing how serious and secretive the conclave is. All of the characters understand the gravity of the situation and the film excellently showcases the importance of this unique assembly. Part of Cardinal Lawrence’s early duties is welcoming the mysterious Cardinal Benitez (Carlos Diehz), a newly created cardinal, who is also the Bishop of Kabul (more on him later). As the plot takes shape, the viewer begins to realize that there are two major factions amongst the cardinals. The first faction is an alt-right conservative branch of cardinals that is led by the racist and anti-Muslim Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto). Tedesco, one of the leading candidates for the papacy, is a conniving man who seeks to bring the Church back to a more traditional state. The other faction is a more progressive and liberal side of the Church from a non-Catholic point of view. Spearheaded by Cardinal Lawrence and Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), the liberal cardinals want more inclusion for homosexuals and women in the Church, specifically in regards to the priesthood. These two factions form battle lines between the cardinals and exchange philosophical blows throughout the film. Thus, in a nutshell, the main plot in the film is an American political drama based in Vatican City. 

Once the true nature of the film rears its ugly head, its other faults begin to show. Besides Ralph Fiennes, the acting is mostly unbearable. Sergio Castellitto is given nothing to work with and he is reduced to a screaming and intolerable bigot. His only strong suit is that he can switch from speaking Italian to English rather flawlessly. Sadly, that’s all his character does throughout the film. Stanley Tucci is by far the worst actor in the entire cast. He has a few rants in which he spews his liberal views about female priests and other “progressive issues” with such poor finesse that his “acting” felt like a lecture to the audience on his personal views on the Catholic Church. Ralph Fiennes, albeit not at his best, carries this film on his back just as his character does for the plot. Sadly, his acting is rather stale and throughout most of the film he has a stressed look on his face that is akin to being flayed alive, which is ironic because his character’s name is Cardinal Lawrence. 

Every character in Conclave focuses purely on the political aspect of electing a pope. They vie to beat the opposition because the other side is evil simply because they have disagreeing viewpoints. What is truly painful and utterly lacking in this film is a sense of the spiritual realm. Everyone in the film is focused simply on their earthly office. There is no concern for their own spirituality or that of others. Even holiness is disregarded by Cardinal Lawrence who says he hopes the newly elected pope isn’t afraid to sin. In fact, Lawrence hopes that the newly elected pope does sin and has the strength to sin and confess. There is a shadow that hovers over the conclave that suggests a spiritual aspect to the selection of the pope but it is entirely ignored. We do not see the cardinals pray together, go to Mass, or visit the Eucharist in adoration. Their priestly duties are entirely omitted from the film. There is even a scene where Cardinal Lawrence gives a “homily” that is entirely independent of the Mass. In that scene, all of the cardinals are wearing their vestments but they are not celebrating Mass; not even an altar is in the scene. Entirely ignoring the spirituality of the Catholic Church makes the film inauthentic and anti-Catholic. 

The finale of the film only reinforces this notion. After an Islamic suicide bomber attack in Rome, which damages the Sistine Chapel, the cardinals gather in an auditorium where they discuss the recent violence. Cardinal Tedesco rants about Islamic immigration to Europe and demands that the Church should start a religious war against the Muslim horde (interestingly he never uses the word “crusade” during his tirade). In bombastic fashion, he openly calls for the eradication of the “Muslim problem.” The newly created cardinal, Benitez, rebukes Tedesco saying that the Church needs to take a more progressive approach towards other religions. He offers an eloquent speech on how the Church should be a leader of peace and equality and should not be trapped in the past and She should move on from Tradition. Much to the delight of the liberal cardinals, Benitez’s speech convinces enough cardinals to elect him pope. In a surprising turn of events, Benitez reveals to Cardinal Lawrence that he has female reproductive organs and female chromosomes despite having male genitalia. She states that she loves the way that God created her and refuses to change. Failing to live out his duty as Dean, Lawrence decides to ignore this information that the pope is a woman and invalidly ordained.¹ The film ends with Benitez being introduced as the Holy Pontiff to the world despite being female.

Conclave is a film that takes modern American political themes, and modern gender theory/agenda and thrusts them upon the Church. It uses this framework to remove the true mission and nature of the Church and instead replaces it with a worldly organization no different from any other modern nation state. The utter neglect of the spiritual realm diminishes the Church’s role in the world and Her true meaning. For those interested in an authentic portrayal of a conclave, I highly recommend watching The Shoes of the Fisherman (free to watch on YouTube!)

1. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1577