Conclave is an award-winning 2024 film directed by Edward Berger, starring Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Lawrence — a man wracked by doubt but whose job it is to organise a conclave after the death of a progressive pope whose legacy some cardinals wish to continue, against a reactionary backlash from conservative cardinals wanting to return to earlier certainties. Sounds familiar? Following the death of Pope Francis immediately after his Easter appearance — which some commentators have referred to as a ‘perfectly timed’ death — this film is indeed well timed, particularly for young Catholics who have no memory of earlier conclaves.
The film explores ‘doubt’ as a major theme, but so you are left in no doubt at all, there are no plot spoilers in this review. One cardinal has already given his seal of approval to the authenticity of the conclave portrayal.[1] Early in the film, as Cardinal Lawrence is meticulously organizing all the formalities, he says to the liberal Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), “This is a conclave, Aldo, it’s not a war…” But the angry animated answer comes straight back at him, “It is a war! And you have to commit to a side!” The battle for the future of the Church is on.
I believe Conclave is a perfect film for its technical merit, but whether the story’s outcome can be described as perfect clearly depends on the viewer’s theology and/or political stance. Catholics in the pews will inevitably be divided as much as the cardinals in the film, but you will be surprised by Conclave’s final outcome if not actually shocked. Whatever one’s views within our imperfect Church, the ending should provoke lively discussion even among like-minded faithful, let alone tribes of online warriors!
There are three areas in which I believe this film’s techniques deserve praise. The first is the storytelling, which can be broken down into three themes of opposites: doubt versus certainty; progressive reform versus stubborn conservatism; and a symbolic battle of male versus female. The film is honest enough not to drive any of these opposites to a resolution. We are drawn into the dynamic between them and any questions about the election outcome are credible because they are left hanging in the air.
Doubt as a keystone of faith is the compelling theme spelled out overtly in the conclave’s opening homily by Cardinal Lawrence: “If there was only certainty and no doubt, there would be no mystery, and therefore no need for faith.”
Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes. FOCUS FEATURES.
The arguments between progressives and conservatives provide a thrill element as we try to guess which side’s machinations will prevail. In the theme of male versus female, the film presents powerful warring alpha males set against a domestic background of servant female religious working their chores in the cold marbled corridors of Casa Marta. We only hear one sister speak out. The powerful but exquisitely understated superior, Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini[2]) speaks passionately — out of turn — just once. It is a key intervention — turning over of the tables in the temple — where the opposition of the male and female principles collide. This theme is treated masterfully by director Peter Berger using the play of light and shadow, underscored in the very subtle final shot of the film, where the sisters come out of the dark shuttered building of Santa Marta into the cloister sunshine after the conclave is over.
It is the end of the symbolic tunnel we have been in since the film’s opening shot, where we see Cardinal Lawrence striding hat-less through a dark road tunnel. Those who have lived in Rome will know it as the Galleria Principe Amedeo Savoia Aosta which is a way into Vatican City. (It is a long tunnel: I walked through its full length on crutches with a broken foot when I was living in a convent on the Janiculum Hill, and it was horribly dark and filled with suffocating car exhaust fumes.) We see Cardinal Lawrence from behind, from a hand-held camera, as we follow him at the same urgent pace. It is the opening visual metaphor for the Catholic Church entering the tunnel of a conclave after the death of a pope.
The days of enclosure in this tunnel will be stifling and intense, until white smoke finally emerges from the Sistine Chapel chimney. (We might see the chimney as a vertical tunnel, if not pushing the metaphor too far?) The shutters can finally be thrown open to let in the sunlight once more. Conclave is visually stunning but for much of the two hours we peer into these darkened spaces and must concentrate our eyes. In the cinema, a Spanish woman in the row behind me whispered loudly to her friend, “Está demasiado oscuro, no puedo ver lo que está pasando…” (It’s too dark, I can’t see what’s happening.) I smiled at the unintended irony, for Conclave gives us a darkened view of a secret process from which our gaze is normally excluded.
Finally, the brilliance of the portrayal of Cardinal Thomas Lawrence by Ralph Fiennes must be singled out. This ‘doubting Thomas’ is a believable human being struggling with a doubt that is so challenging that he had earlier pleaded with the pope to be relieved of his duties and leave Rome to confront his doubt. Fiennes’ performance shows us a towering character who simultaneously expresses the deepest human vulnerability within an outward stalwart figure. When he quotes the words of Jesus feeling forsaken on the cross, we see him as a Christ-like figure. He does not want the papal mantle, but we see his honesty and moral courage as a model for the ideal cardinal who would wear the Fisherman’s shoes at the end of the conclave and steer the barque of the Church.
As we now head towards a real conclave, this film is convincing in its main thesis. We should not want a man of absolute certainty in this role, but a man of faith. He will be informed sometimes by doubt. Such a man was Pope Francis, may he rest in peace, who spoke these words about doubt in 2013 soon after the conclave that elected him:
“If one has the answers to all the questions, that is the proof that God is not with him. The great leaders of the people of God, like Moses, have always left room for doubt. You must leave room for the Lord, not for our certainties…”[3]
How to watch ‘Conclave’ in the US: “Conclave” is now available to stream on Prime Video for subscribers. ‘Conclave’ on Prime Video: Subscribe. It is also available to rent or buy on-demand platforms such as Apple and Fandango.
Conclave is available to stream in the UK on Prime Video now. The drama can also be purchased on all digital platforms, including the Sky Store and Apple TV.
Notes:
[1] In a letter to Robert Harris, writer of the novel Conclave, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, praised the authenticity of the Vatican procedures. This is unsurprising as Harris consulted him during his research! However, Cardinal Nichols admitted in a TV interview on the day Pope Francis died that he still had not seen the film. (Channel 4, London UK, 21 April 2025.)
[2] The actress is the daughter of Ingrid Bergman and the film director Roberto Rossellini.
[3] This quote is from an interview given by Pope Francis to Antonio Spadaro S.J. for America Magazine in 2013. https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2013/09/30/big-heart-open-god-interview-pope-francis
Images: Stills/Screenshots from Conclave, FOCUS FEATURES
Gareth Thomas lives a solitary life in the mountains in Spain with his donkeys. A former aircraft engineer, Franciscan friar and geography teacher, he is a veteran of the pilgrim routes to Compostela.
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