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| Ralph Fiennes in "Conclave" Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
In 2022, director Edward Berger delivered a harrowing war epic with his remake of “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Using a sprawling scale of the battlefields and trenches to bring us the horrors of war, Berger visualized a story of the tensions and bloodshed of which men are capable under the most dire of circumstances. It was an emotional and ambitious movie that had me looking forward to what Berger would bring us next.
With his latest film, Berger deals with tensions amongst men on a smaller scale, yet one that impacts the world, nonetheless, in his mystery-thriller, “Conclave,” which boasts a quiet, yet galvanizing lead performance, tense direction, and a story that’ll have you leaning forward at each twist and turn.
When the pope passes away, the Vatican is in a race to install a new leader for the Catholic Church. Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is put in charge to lead the conclave to choose the next pope. As the election unfolds, he deals with candidates who want the position more than anything, as well as the secrets that some of them are hiding.
Fiennes delivers one of the best performances of his career as a man tasked with finding a leader. He brings out his character’s sense of duty, but also shows the burden of having such an assignment. Fiennes displays the gravity of what this task entails, presenting his character’s views of what such a decision means for both the church and the world. This is a performance that thrives on how subdued it is, with Fiennes bringing forth a man of faith who’s also bothered by some questions that he has for the church that he serves. His work in this film is superb throughout, but one of his most memorable scenes is one at the beginning of the voting process where he gives opening remarks about faith and uncertainty. It’s a speech that captures his character’s viewpoints, all of which have complexities added to them when he doesn’t want the papacy himself, despite thinking that those best fit for power are those who don’t seek it. It’s a fascinating depth that this role carries, and Fiennes is absolutely magnetic with how he grips your attention as you anticipate the decisions that Cardinal Lawrence will make.
Backing up Fiennes are some superb supporting performances from Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, Lucien Msamati, and Carlos Diehz as cardinals who are in the running to be the next pope, and Isabella Rossellini as a Sister and the cardinal’s head housekeeper. All of these cast members add their own bit of intrigue in the way that they approach their characters, having you wonder who’s hiding what secrets and what it’ll mean for the conclave as it commences.
The screenplay by Peter Straughan, which is based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris, offers a tantalizing mystery that gets you hooked from the first scene. From there, like all great film puzzles, it doles out details little by little as we become more wrapped up in the goings-on behind the Vatican’s walls. The narrative is populated with characters who have their own goals for who they want to be in the church and what they want the church to be, and it’s never anything less than intriguing to see these clashes of views as the pool for the papacy successors becomes shallower. All of this leads up to one of the most surprising conclusions I’ve seen in a movie recently. “Conclave” is one of those occasions where I’m glad I didn’t read the book first because the last 10 minutes had the people at my screening murmuring in surprise with what it reveals, offering an electrifying experience of communal discovery that feels rare these days with theatrical releases.
Just as Berger did with the vast settings of “Western Front,” he’s able to bring us the fullest details of the more enclosed settings of the Vatican, giving off a strong sense of intrigue as we try to guess what’s going on within. To accomplish this, he collaborates with cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine, who works on a level that he did with his work on Pablo Larraín’s 2016 film, “Jackie.” Similar to how Fontaine gave us a look into the inner layers of the White House for that historical drama, he does the same with the Vatican in “Conclave.” Fontaine not only has a talent for photographing places where people in high positions of power operate, but also when these places are in a period of transition. With the pairing of Berger and Fontaine, they pull back the curtain on areas that many don’t get to see in real life, taking us through the courtyards, hallways, and private rooms of the Vatican. Whether we’re in a scene with a character alone in a room finding out a secret, or a scene with many characters where there’s voting taking place, Berger maintains the thrills of the story no matter where he takes us on the Vatican grounds. Helping to highlight these thrills is composer Volker Bertelmann, who worked with Berger on “Western Front,” and here, he provides music that emphasizes stringed instruments to maximum effect to have us feel the tightly-wound tension and weight of what’s happening around the characters.
“Conclave” is the type of fast-paced thriller that offers an equal abundance of suspense and narrative depth that cements this as one of the best films of the year. While Cardinal Lawrence holds uncertainty as a virtue, you’re certain to be enthralled with this captivating mystery.
Grade: A
