It didn’t take long for Focus Features’ “Conclave” to develop Oscar buzz. With an all-star cast of Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow and Academy Award-winning director Edward Berger on board, the film was set to make waves even once it was announced.
Though the term “Oscar buzz” can sometimes signal a boring, bait-y drama to come, “Conclave” gets it right.
The film zeroes in on a process the public knows little about: the choosing of a new pope. The secretive Catholic tradition goes back 1000 years and takes place in the Sistine Chapel, which is decorated with paintings by Michelangelo. The script is adapted from a 2016 Robert Harris novel of the same name.
Fiennes plays Cardinal Lawrence, who is tasked with running the conclave after the previous pope dies. Political machinations ensue as Cardinal Tremblay (Lithgow), Cardinal Bellini (Tucci), Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), would-be first African pope Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msmati) and even Lawrence himself vie for the title.
Lawrence, though, tasks himself with finding out if these frontrunners are fit for the role after the previous pope’s sudden death.
This includes meeting the quiet and secretive Cardinal Benitez (Carlos Diehz), whose existence the other cardinals have no idea of because of his stationing in Kabul, Afghanistan, by the previous pope.
This all makes for a thriller that has no “slow” parts. Each moment is spent calculating the true intentions of each character and their reasons for wanting the coveted papal title. The audience unravels the story with Lawrence as each conclave vote fails to reach the two-thirds majority to select a new pope.
This is all framed by some of the most stunning cinematography film has seen in 2024, which is no surprise coming from “Ammonite” and “Jackie” director of photography Stéphane Fontaine. Each frame could easily be hung in a modern art museum: the stunning red colors of the cardinals’ religious garb and the Rome setting would be entertaining enough without the rest of the film. Behind legendary DP Greig Fraser for “Dune: Part Two,” Fontaine will surely secure an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography.
Director Edward Berger’s prospects are also looking good. Expectations were high after his Best International Feature-winning film “All Quiet on the Western Front” captured audiences in 2022. Somehow, Berger exceeds these expectations: Making an almost courtroom-like drama about a bunch of old men arguing doesn’t seem like the most interesting thing on Earth to me, yet here we are.
But the piece of this marvelous puzzle that shouldn’t be overlooked is a breakout performance by Diehz.
The first-time film actor landed the role after a worldwide search by the casting team. Diehz, by all accounts, totally steals the show. Benitez’ soft-spoken, matter-of-fact performance provides a foil to the often hyper-masculine arguing of the other characters. Somehow, Diehz holds his own, and more, against seasoned actors like Fiennes.
After all, each actor has a lot to work with writer Peter Straughan’s script. The film touches on issues that have long plagued the Catholic church since Vatican II. A rift between “old-school” and “liberal” cardinals forms as Bellini argues for a bigger role for women in the church and Tedesco argues against religious tolerance.
Tedesco’s warning against allowing Muslims to exist amongst Roman Catholics is an ever-present argument in the real world, especially as the Catholic Church has recently stepped back to its conservative roots as the liberal priests of the Vatican II era have died and retired. Arguments surrounding gay and abortion rights are constant fodder surrounding Pope Francis’ papacy.
For now, “Conclave” puts this shift into a fictional perspective, giving us a “what if” look inside one of the most secretive processes in the world.
“Conclave” releases widely in theaters on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024.
Anya Capistrant-Kinney can be reached at capi2087@stthomas.edu.