TIFF Review: ‘Conclave’ Seamlessly Merges Social Commentary, Comedy, and Papal Drama

The process of choosing a new pope involves a great deal of fanfare and secrecy, with cardinals sequestered until they elect someone by a two-thirds majority and colored smoke used to signal the masses eagerly waiting in the streets. It’s impossible to know exactly how deliberations really  work since most moviegoers haven’t been in the large hall where it happens, but Conclave, based on the Robert Harris novel of the same name, constructs a mesmerizing spectacle involving rituals, betrayals, and a handful of sincere surprises.

The pope is dead, and it falls to Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) to run the conclave to anoint his successor. Once everyone is sequestered, the initial vote yields a few obvious favorites: Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), from Africa, Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), a conservative from Italy, Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow), a showboat from America, and Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), another American who Lawrence strongly supports. The introduction of Cardinal Benitez (Carlos Diehz), originally from Mexico but secretly appointed by the late pope to serve in Kabul, presents just one element of chaos that finds Lawrence struggling to maintain control over a lengthy and unruly process.

This is not the first film to showcase a papal conclave. Just recently, Nanni Moretti’s We Have a Pope put a comedic spin on it by following a selection who literally ran from his fate, while Fernando Meireilles’ The Two Popes included multiple scenes referencing it in its exploration of successive selections passing knowledge from one to the next. It’s the meat of the appropriately-titled Conclave, which takes some time to get into the proceedings as Lawrence conducts a few formalities and all the appropriate preparations are made. It’s an arduous and weighty event, one requiring travel for all cardinals and the confiscation of their phones as they remain sworn to secrecy about their votes and the status of their deliberations.

What Conclave showcases is a large group of men from around the men in the company only of other servants of the Catholic Church. They behave much in the way that work colleagues or college friends getting together years after last seeing each other might, forming cliques and gossiping about who they dislike and who they think should become their new leader. Whether their real-life counterparts are quite as catty is a mystery that will never be revealed, but this portrayal makes them feel human and also ups the film’s entertainment value considerably.

This is the much-anticipated follow-up for director Edward Berger to the Oscar-winning All Quiet on the Western Front, which also played at TIFF two years ago. It’s tonally very different – and temperature-wise in its setting, as Berger joked in his introduction to the film – but just as gripping. At times, it’s laugh-out-loud funny and, at others, gravely serious, and the balance between those two contradictory moods is phenomenal. Sometimes it’s unexpected, but each shift is extremely rewarding and will keep viewers locked in to what’s happening.

Fiennes, like the character he plays, is a very suitable lead, far more endearing than many of the roles the actor typically takes. He’s resolute and determined to fulfill the task he has been assigned, and responds defensively when he racks up a number of votes on the first tally, explaining that he doesn’t want to be pope. Tucci is formidable as always, so blunt and opinionated and firmly devoted to his principles, petty as they often seem. The international actors all contribute in a way that makes this film much stronger, sharing just enough of their experiences to represent the global nature and varied politics of this large group.

Berger smartly re-teams with composer Volker Bertelmann, who won an Oscar for his loud, haunting All Quiet on the Western Front score, for a superb theme that helps to musically define this genre-defying film in a fantastic way. The recreation of the Vatican is particularly impressive, and this film’s sets speak just as loudly as its dialogue. What these church leaders discuss covers so much, and it’s possible to be entranced by their conversations alone, ignoring the actual plot of the film. Conclave takes many big swings and manages to land them all, delivering what will surely be one of the most memorable and satisfying cinematic experiences of the year.

Movie Rating: 9/10

Awards Buzz: This is sure to be a top-tier Oscar contender. Expect to film to be up for Best Picture and both Fiennes and Tucci to do well too, and Berger is a likely Best Director nominee as well. Barring late-emerging competition, this should be one of the awards frontrunners by the end of the year.