'Conclave' Review: A Divinely Made Film That Dares To Blur The Lines Between Church And State [TIFF 24]
EDWARD BERGER MAKES his english-language debut with this engrossing POLITICAL THRILLER.
After the massive critical success of 2022’s Oscar-winning All Quiet On The Western Front, it was clear that it would be anything but quiet on the Edward Berger front, with the acclaimed director choosing Conclave as his next project. Conclave is an adaptation of the 2016 novel of the same name, which follows boiling tensions in the Vatican after the passing of the incumbent Pope, with conspiracies and cloak-and-dagger politics at play amidst the looming conclave period to elect a new Pope.
Ralph Fiennes leads the film as Cardinal Lawrence, a veteran clergyman who finds himself caught untangling the web of politics and secrets around the election process. Lawrence represents one of the ‘liberal’ popes of the church, alongside his close ally, Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci) who both try to thwart many attempts by the more conservative members of the congregation to win the papacy. This political element is more than prevalent. While the film can appear to be a religious drama at first glance, it operates more as a political thriller, but is sure not to lose the religious element. Fiennes and Tucci in particular play their character’s conflicts between religious duties, political ideologies, and their belief in god, all of which are challenged and tested in extreme ways.
Newcomer Carlos Diehz stuns their key role, as Father Benitez, the illusive newcomer to the titular conclave who remains something of an uncrackable engima throughout the film. Veteran actress Isabella Rosselini is given a great turn as Sister Agnes, with Rosselini chewing up every bit of scenery and providing some welcome comedic levity to an otherwise heavy film.
Perhaps Conclave’s greatest strength is its stellar script. Full of intense, sharp dialogue, and twists galore, only gaining intrigue and suspense along the way, the screenplay starts strong and ends stronger. Despite its big ensemble and big undertaking with its political and religious themes, it never crumbles against the huge weight of its ambitions, instead subverting any sort of conventional predictions as to where the plot could go. While it could have benefited from dipping its toes into its own ideological discourse a bit more, Conclave does feel more than substantial enough in differentiating itself from a milquetoast film of its genre. There are big, daring twists that may not land for all audiences, but their ambition to commit to said twists, especially given the nature of the subjects at hand. Moreover, there is a thoroughly satisfying cathartic undertone to Conclave as it progresses. It never comes off as self-righteous, nor self-important, but takes itself seriously with enough indication that writer Peter Straughan is aware that the film isn’t trying to be the definite voice on the Catholic Church.
Despite Conclave being Berger’s first English-language film, he seemingly encounters no hiccups, keeping a steady directorial hand on this handsomely assembled film, and elevating the very conversational nature of the film into something truly riveting. Though the film takes place in a singular location, and is dialogue-heavy, Berger ensures that the film never feels intentionally claustrophobic, and is able to make the Vatican feel like a character unto itself, feeling expansive and thematically involved in a sense. The mounting tension is mirrored by a more intense approach to the directing, which makes for a great rhythm that Berger feels in full-control of. His reunion with composer Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet On The Western Front) is another great collaboration between the two, with Bertelmann’s score helping to propel the atmospheric tension of the film, and accentuates already tense moments to a whole new level of enthralling.
Conclave is the kind of film that is frankly a treat, especially so in the current state of cinema. This mature, grounded, and gripping mid-budget thriller is definitely contemporary, but spiritually feels like something that would have excelled in the more common era for these sorts of thrillers. Edward Berger and company have succeeded in creating a terrifically crafted thriller that is able to hit all of its story beats with strong cadence and grace. It is easy to earmark Conclave as a prestige film to watch come awards season, for which recognition would be justified, especially in the technical categories, but it is very commendable all the same for existing as it is, a handsomely crafted thriller which is able to chart new ground and tell a gripping story.