Conclave (film)

Conclave
US theatrical release poster
Directed by	Edward Berger
Screenplay by	Peter Straughan
Based on	Conclave by Robert Harris
Produced by	Tessa Ross Juliette Howell Michael Jackman Alice Dawson Robert Harris
Starring	Ralph Fiennes Stanley Tucci John Lithgow Sergio Castellitto Isabella Rossellini
Cinematography	Stéphane Fontaine
Edited by	Nick Emerson
Music by	Volker Bertelmann
Production companies	FilmNation Entertainment House Productions
Distributed by	Black Bear UK (United Kingdom) Focus Features (United States)
Release dates	30 August 2024 (2024-08-30) (Telluride) 25 October 2024 (2024-10-25) (United States) 29 November 2024 (2024-11-29) (United Kingdom)
Running time	120 minutes[1]
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million[2]
Box office	$30.2 million[3][4]

Conclave is a 2024 mystery thriller film directed by Edward Berger and written by Peter Straughan, based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris. The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, and Isabella Rossellini. In the film, Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Fiennes) organizes a papal conclave to elect the next pope and finds himself investigating secrets and scandals about each candidate.

Conclave premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival on 30 August 2024, was theatrically released in the United States by Focus Features on 25 October 2024, and is scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom by Black Bear UK on 29 November. The film received positive reviews from critics, with specific praise for the performances and cinematography, and has grossed $30 million worldwide.

After the Pope dies of a heart attack, the College of Cardinals gathers in seclusion for a papal conclave to choose the new pope, under the leadership of Cardinal-Dean Thomas Lawrence. The College is surprised by the arrival of Archbishop Vincent Benitez of Kabul, who claims the late pope secretly made him a cardinal.^[a]

The four main candidates for pope are Bellini, a liberal in the vein of the late pope; Adeyemi, a Nigerian with socially conservative views; Tremblay, a mainstream conservative; and Tedesco, a reactionary traditionalist who wants to reverse parts of the Second Vatican Council. Bellini and Lawrence are the two leaders of the Church's liberal wing, but neither claims to want the papacy. Before the first vote, Lawrence gives a sermon encouraging the cardinals to embrace doubt and uncertainty, which is seen by some as a campaign speech. Lawrence learns Benitez was close to the former Pope, who paid for Benitez's plane ticket to Switzerland for a medical appointment that was later canceled. Further, the late pope's confidant tells Lawrence that the pope demanded Tremblay's resignation hours before dying. Tremblay vigorously denies this.

After the first vote, no candidate is close to the needed two-thirds majority. However, Adeyemi has a slight edge, and Bellini and Lawrence split the liberal vote. Without a unity candidate, the liberals consolidate behind Adeyemi over the protests of Bellini, who despises Adeyemi's homophobia. Bellini accuses Lawrence of secretly trying to win the papacy for himself, an allegation Lawrence denies. Sister Shanumi, a Nigerian nun handling domestic tasks, causes a stir by confronting Adeyemi in the cardinals' refectory. She confesses to Lawrence that she and Adeyemi had an illicit relationship that resulted in the birth of a son who was given up for adoption. Although Lawrence is duty-bound to keep the secret, a whisper campaign derails Adeyemi's candidacy over the next few votes. Adeyemi suspects a setup, as Shanumi never left Nigeria before appearing at the conclave. Bellini transfers his support to Tremblay.

Head nun Sister Agnes informs Lawrence that Tremblay arranged for Shanumi's transfer to the Vatican. Lawrence breaks into the late pope's apartment and finds documents showing that Tremblay bribed cardinals for votes. Bellini urges Lawrence to burn the documents, but admits that he agreed to support Tremblay's candidacy in exchange for a prestigious bureaucratic appointment. Lawrence and Agnes publicize Tremblay's bribery to the cardinals, thereby destroying Tremblay's candidacy. Lawrence and Tedesco are now the only remaining major candidates, although Benitez has steadily gained support, to Lawrence's continuing surprise.

During the fifth vote, a suicide bomber attacks the Vatican, killing many in the crowd outside and damaging the Sistine Chapel. Tedesco angrily blames Islamists and calls for the Church to fight a war against Islam. Benitez responds that violence should not be met with violence, saying he has seen the true cost of war during his time in the Congo, Baghdad, and Kabul. Moved, the cardinals elect Benitez as pope on the sixth ballot.

Lawrence discovers Benitez's canceled medical visit was for a laparoscopic hysterectomy and confronts him. Benitez explains he was assigned male at birth but did not know he had a uterus and ovaries until a recent appendectomy. Benitez goes on to explain he chose to keep his female organs, stating, "I am as God made me." Agreeing to keep Benitez's secret, Lawrence listens to the crowds cheer Benitez's election as Pope Innocent XIV.

• Ralph Fiennes as Thomas Cardinal^[b] Lawrence, a British liberal and the Dean of the College of Cardinals
• Stanley Tucci as Aldo Cardinal Bellini, an American liberal. Bellini's failure to gain election despite being the early favorite is based on Carlo Maria Martini's experiences during the 2005 papal conclave.^[7]
• John Lithgow as Joseph Cardinal Tremblay, a Canadian moderate
• Sergio Castellitto as Goffredo Cardinal Tedesco, an Italian traditionalist
• Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes, the cardinals' head caterer and housekeeper
• Lucian Msamati as Joshua Cardinal Adeyemi, a popular Nigerian candidate with conservative social views.
• Carlos Diehz as Vincent Cardinal Benitez, a little-known Mexican archbishop working in Afghanistan. In the novel, Benitez is Filipino and works in Baghdad.^[8]
• Brían F. O'Byrne as Monsignor Raymond O'Malley, Lawrence's assistant and opposition researcher
• Merab Ninidze as Cardinal Sabbadin
• Thomas Loibl [de] as Archbishop Mandorff
• Jacek Koman as Archbishop Janusz Woźniak, the Prefect of the Papal Household and the late pope's confidant
• Loris Loddi [it] as Cardinal Villanueva

It was announced in May 2022 that Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, and Isabella Rossellini were set to star in the film, with Edward Berger directing.^[9] Additional casting was announced in January 2023 as production began in Rome.^[10] Filming also took place in Cinecittà.^[11] Filming concluded in March.^[12]

The set designers took great care to replicate the Sistine Chapel, though they took some artistic license with the Domus Sanctae Marthae. They made their set more prison-like to enhance dramatic tension because they felt that the real version was rather dull. Costume designers visited Gammarelli, Tirelli Costumi, and several museums in Rome as part of their research. For the cardinals' red attire, costume designer Lisy Christl opted for a hue used in 17th-century cardinal vestments, rather than one from modern-day ones, believing it be "far more beautiful and far easier for our eyes".^[13]

While writing the screenplay, Straughan said that he met with a Cardinal to discuss the logistics of the conclave. He also took a private tour of the Vatican, and said he did not feel hostility while there and felt that the Vatican had been open to him.^[13]

In August 2022, Black Bear Pictures' newly founded British distribution arm acquired U.K. distribution rights to the film from FilmNation Entertainment, serving as one of its first acquisitions and maiden releases in the United Kingdom; Black Bear's company Elevation Pictures also serves as Canadian distributor.^[14] Steven Rales served as one of the executive producers, co-financing the film via his production company, Indian Paintbrush.^[15]

In November 2023, Focus Features acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film.^[16] In July 2024, Conclave was announced as part of the Special Presentations section for the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival scheduled for September 8, 2024.^[17][18] The film would subsequently be announced as part of the lineup for the Telluride Film Festival, where it had its world premiere.^[19] Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera explained why the film did not play at Venice: "I didn't think it was a Competition film for Venice but I invited it Out of Competition. We tried to figure out timing for it to play here and at Telluride, which they also wanted, but we couldn't find the right dates and timing for it to work. We discussed various options but couldn't get the time that suited everyone. It's a shame."^[20]

The film was released in the United States on 25 October 2024.^[21] It was previously scheduled for a limited theatrical release on 1 November before opening wide on the following week.^[22] It is scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on 29 November.^[1]

In the United States and Canada, Conclave was released alongside Venom: The Last Dance, and was projected to gross $4–6 million from 1,753 theaters in its opening weekend.^[2] The film made $2.5 million on its first day, including $500,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $6.6 million, finishing in third;^[23] 77% of its audience was over 35 years old, while 67% was Caucasian.^[24] The film then made $5 million in its second weekend (dropping 23.7%),^[25] and $4.1 million in its third weekend (dropping just 18.1%), finishing in fourth and sixth place, respectively.^[26]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 219 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Carrying off papal pulp with immaculate execution and career-highlight work from Ralph Fiennes, Conclave is a godsend for audiences who crave intelligent entertainment."^[27] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[28] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it an 84% overall positive score, with 62% saying they would "definitely recommend" it.^[24]

The film's cinematography received praise.^[29][30][31] The film's ensemble cast was also praised,^[31][29] with Fiennes' and Castellitto's performances receiving particular acclaim.^{[30][32][33][34]}

The plot received some criticism,^[35] with Katie Walsh of the Los Angeles Times calling it "a pretty thin and silly mystery ... that seems like it's deeper than it actually is."^[36] IndieWire's David Ehrlich agreed that the film was "very silly but wonderfully staged ... even if the film might be a bit too convinced of its own dramatic import."^[33] The Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips praised the film's "delicious portraits in pursuit, deceit and evasion."^[37]

Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair said that the film rightly portrayed "both the seriousness of [the conclave] process and the campy ridiculousness of it," and thought that the film "touch[es] fingers with prestige greatness while keeping its feet firmly planted in the realm of rollicking entertainment."^[38] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times noted that the film's stance towards the Roman Catholic Church mirrors Hollywood's own stance towards its film industry: "lightly cynical, self-flattering and finally myth-stoking."^[32]

Critics disagreed on the final twist. Lawson called it "reckless" and insufficiently thought through,^[38] while Variety's Peter Debruge called it "one of the most satisfying twists in years, a Hail Mary that both surprises and restores one's faith (maybe not everyone's, but certainly that of the disillusioned)."^[39]

John Mulderig of the Catholic OSV News opined that in Conclave, "rival viewpoints within the church are caricatured with a broad brush ... and the deck is predictably stacked in favor of those who advocate change." He warned that "all moviegoers committed to the church's creeds will want to approach this earnest, visually engaging but manipulative — and sometimes sensationalist — production with caution."^[5] The Archdiocese of Los Angeles' Angelus magazine complimented several of the actors' performances but dismissed the film, writing that "The problem here is not that it is full of bias against the Catholic Church. The problem is that it is just plain bad. ... At the crucial moment, [Benitez] gives a speech so full of platitudes it could have been written by ChatGPT."^[40] On the other hand, the progressive National Catholic Reporter praised the film, calling it "a compelling and ecclesial call for a renewed spiritual stewardship characterized by humility, meekness, and, curiously, doubt."^[41]

Kate Lucky of Christianity Today, an evangelical publication, called the film "gorgeous" and "riveting", and said that "though the film subtly advances progressive convictions, it gives cardinals of all ideological persuasions equal opportunity to fall short."^[42]

Bishop Robert Barron bluntly reacted: "Just saw 'Conclave.' If you are interested in a film about the Catholic Church that could have been written by the editorial board of the New York Times, this is your movie. The hierarchy of the Church is a hotbed of ambition, corruption, and desperate egotism; Conservatives are xenophobic extremists, and the liberals are self-important schemers. None can escape this irredeemable situation. The only way forward is the embrace of the progressive buzz words of diversity, inclusion, indifference to doctrine, and the ultimate solution is a virtue signaling Cardinal who takes the Papal name of Innocent and who is a biological female. Since it checks practically every woke box, I'm sure it will win a boatload of awards, but my advice is to run away from it as fast as you can."^[43]

• List of current cardinals
• Papabile
• Papal conclave

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Conclave (film).

• Conclave at IMDb