Conclave: A Quiet Film With Fire in it's Heart

Note - this article is a re-publishing of a review originally from 11/29/2024 to combat techincal difficulties on my site.

Ever since I watched the runner-up for 2022's Best Picture award at the Oscars, Edward Berger's excellent take on Remarque's classic novel All Quiet on the Western Front, I've marked Berger as something of a talent to watch. His filmmaking style in All Quiet struck me as simple, yet possessing a remarkable, universal depth that only the most fundamental of stories can procure. So you can probably imagine my excitement when I first saw the trailer for Berger's sophomore big-screen effort, an adaptation of Robert Harris's 2016 novel of the same name. I assumed, correctly if I may, that this film would function on a somewhat similar level to Berger's previous effort, and I appreciate that this film is unlike anything else it's being released next to in theaters, feeling distinctly out of its time in the most satisfying of ways. Conclave is an unusual thriller. It acts unusually. It lacks the usual trappings of a thriller. And it's even unusually quiet and introspective for a thriller. But by no means is it a boring thriller, because it has a true and sincere fire burning in its quiet heart, and I think you would be wise to sit patiently and appreciate the heat.

Conclave is a 2024 political thriller set around the death of the pope of the Catholic Church from natural causes. Cardinal-Dean Thomas Lawrence, portrayed by the excellent Ralph Fiennes, is selected to oversee a papal conclave, a special meeting of all Bishops from around the world, to elect a new pope. But man is a fallen creature, and not all of the motives of the many Bishops gathered in the Vatican are pure.

As for the unusual nature of Conclave, this film acts like a child conceived by Mission Impossible and Habemus Papam would, and eschews the traditional trappings of a thriller in a manner that feels simultaneously classy and fresh. This film looks and feels so timeless, and I really appreciate the dedication on the part of all involved in its making to creating a film that acts far more organic than most of what's being released today, which is kind of ironic given that it's an adaptation of existing source material. Take notes, Hollywood. Anyways, what makes it feel so timeless is the fact that it leans heavily on classical architecture while carrying itself like a political thriller and even picking up on some conventional and distinctly European visual cues that wouldn't feel at all out of place in the world of Ethan Hunt and the IMF. Assisting this timeless aesthetic is understated but intentional and well-shot cinematography courtesy of Stéphane Fontaine, a relatively small name out of France, who I hope will be getting more mainstream job opportunities from other mainstream film productions because his image acts very much like the rest of the film: it accomplishes so much while still feeling wildly understated, and reveals the slightest of emotions and character traits very effectively. Speaking of character, this is definitely my favorite part of the movie. Conclave contains the best acting I've seen in a movie released this year, and perhaps the best acting I've seen in any movie I've watched over the last year. Ralph Fiennes delivers an absolute powerhouse of a performance as Thomas Lawrence, the main protagonist of the film, giving us a phenomenally restrained and nuanced performance that may be the very best work of his entire career, definitely on par with his chilling portrayal of Amon Göth in Schindler's List, and perhaps even surpassing it. The rest of the stellar cast isn't far behind, and the performances of Conclave are just an absolutely majestic thing to behold, with Fiennes taking his rightful place as the centerpiece. The whole cast effectively adds to the sense of immersion and sincerity on display here, and it's truly a remarkable thing to witness.

Now, the next thing I love about this film is that it understands that a lot of people, accustomed to Death Stars and Infinity Stones, may not take the politically antagonistic threats this film wants to raise very seriously, and so it does something interesting to avoid having to artificially build tension in any way: it starts off by making it very clear that this whole very delicate situation is nothing more than a powder keg ready to blow. Tensions are high, this situation is unstable, and it's very clear that even one wrong move on the part of any of the characters could cause the proceedings to collapse, possibly even violently. Every bombshell revelation that comes to light is just another stick of dynamite carefully and meticulously stacked on top of this increasingly unstable keg, and eventually, the question becomes not if it will get set off, but when, how, and who by. All of these questions come to an appropriate head in the finale of the film, the best part of Berger's entire effort, a quiet and introspective falling action that carries an incredible amount of moral weight. But all throughout the runtime, the plot of the film feels both inevitable and unpredictable in a way that a good thriller should, and we see the increasingly complicated and even conspiratorial proceedings take a real toll on all the characters involved. The film is both structurally and emotionally intelligent, and the manner in which it finally, truly plays its cloak-and-dagger-fixated hand is wonderfully executed, striking, and unexpected, supplying me with maybe even more food for thought than I would have liked at the moment, which in retrospect, I'm glad for. Some criticized this film's mysterious aspects as silly, and to be honest with you, I'm not sure what movie they watched. Maybe they're assuming that life as a Christian (or a Catholic - same difference) is all summer camps and Kumbaya. Or maybe they don't take electing the head of one of the most powerful organizations in the world seriously. Well, their loss. I personally appreciated how earnestly this film took itself, because this approach lent itself to some truly powerful moments that added a lot to a truly intentional sense of immersion. I like my movies without jokes about some guy named Taserface, thank you very much.

Conclave contains a largely excellent plot, the best acting I've seen in a film this year, and a wonderful sense of weight, despite not being the most bombastic piece on the street. Its most powerful and emotional moments appropriately rest at the end of the film, for both us as the audience as well as for Cardinal Lawrence and Co, where each character has to reckon the decisions they've made, and the trusts they've broken or conversely held on to at the expense of doing the right thing. I appreciate a film that's patient enough to let us quietly sit and simmer in what we experienced, American attention spans be spurned, and I like that this film understands that what it does actually matters, and that sometimes, important things are worth being sat on instead of thrown out in favor of a new, more exciting twenty-minute series of action sequences. This is fresh filmmaking, distinctive from anything else I've seen this year, and it's unquestionably patient, waiting to reveal the complete truth to us until the final act of the film, using inherent human curiosity to ensure that the truth still matters to us as the audience throughout the course of the runtime. Conclave is an excellent mystery thriller in just about every way, and as for content concerns, it's far more restrained than I expected it to be, receiving a mere PG rating from the MPAA. There are some cheap shots directed at the Catholic Church that we've come to expect from Hollywood movies, as well as one scene where a character discusses a complicated and uncomfortable situation having to do with his own sexual nature, but given that Berger's last film was All Quiet on the Western Front, this movie ended up being far tamer than I expected it to be. If your kid is relatively mature and wants to watch Conclave, I would be far more inclined to recommend this to you than you might expect if you've seen some of the promotional material for it. Given, it's a film with adult sensibilities and ideas, so even though some kids would be fine watching it, a lot of what goes on may fly over their heads, and frankly, I don't imagine they'd absolutely die if you didn't show them a movie about a papal conclave, which isn't exactly the most popular form of entertainment among younger generations.

But joking aside, Conclave is an excellent movie about what happens when wolves have a say in whom the flock of sheep wishes to follow.

Conclave - 9/10

Matthew 7:15-20