Director: Edward Berger
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, Sergio Castellito
Screenplay: Peter Straughan
120 mins. Rated PG for thematic material and smoking.

You heard it here: PG is about to make a comeback.

The Pope is dead. Long live the Pope. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel) is a man of faith who has lost just that, charged with leading the conclave to select the next papal leader of the Catholic church. With the rest of the committee locked in place, forced to vote and discuss, repeating until once nominee gets the necessary 72 votes. While many of the best choices struggle to secure a standing on the votes, Lawrence is soon discovering that many of the Cardinals have secrets of their own and reasons to want the power of the church behind them.

I’m a sucker for single-location thrillers as well as political (and religious) thrillers, but I think Conclave is a lot more than a combination of the two. The film, and particularly Cardinal Lawrence showcase some of the best faith-based character work in any recent film. Early on in the film, Lawrence delivers the eulogy for the recently passed Pope, providing us with the central idea of the film: the importance of doubt vs. certainty, and how a great next Pope should doubt, sin, and ask for forgiveness. It’s an excellent sequence, made all the better by Fiennes, but it’s also something he struggles with through the whole narrative as various imperfections rise to the surface all around him. I’m often rather critical of popular faith-based cinema, mostly because I find that the movies never actually test their characters of faith, which I think is necessary if the film is about faith, and that’s what is accomplished here.

Performances all around are excellent in the film, but I’d like to highlight lead Fiennes for his nuanced approach to doubt in his faith, in his teachings, in everything he’s ever believed being tested before him. There’s also a standout, occasionally over-the-top but always at the right time performance from Sergio Castellitto as Cardinal Tedesco, an odd and radical Cardinal who desperately wants to be Pope to reverse some of the more progressive stances that the previous Pope pushed for. Tedesco is a standout character with some scene-stealing work, even amongst the absolutely stacked cast of characters.

Berger’s film excels in its quieter action, a test of his abilities as a director, especially following the action heavy All Quiet on the Western Front. It’s difficult to make a war film, purely from a logistics standpoint, but I think it’s more difficult to make a quiet film with people talking in rooms and somehow make it as exciting, and Berger does just that. His focus on ritual and order to create tension adds a bubbling layer to this boilerplate. Add to that the excellent writing by Peter Straughan, his screenplay juggling multiple characters arcs and reveals quite well. Straughan’s screenplay is able to introduce just about every major player in the narrative within the first two major scenes.

Edward Berger’s Conclave is a masterclass in tension, building entirely from character and exploding with unexpected twists and turns. It had me from moment one and never let go. Expect to see discussion in the coming months about these performances. It’s a movie with a PG rating that somehow layers in a number of themes about faith and doubt and power while also taking a look behind the curtain at a secretive process that hinges on one of the biggest religions, all without needing to throw in a bunch of violence or swearing to nab that more adult rating. Our screening even had a moment of surprise that had audience members verbally react, so it definitely works in a larger theater setting. Seek out Conclave; it’s one of the most exciting films of the year.

4/5
-Kyle A. Goethe