*This review contains spoilers for Conclave*
During a year of historic elections worldwide—from India, to the United Kingdom, to the recent Presidential election in the United States—Conclave depicts a fictionalized scenario of a contemporary Papal election. Adapted from Robert Harris’ 2016 novel by the same name, Conclave draws on the British journalist and author’s expertise in historical fiction, best known for works like Fatherland. The film was directed by Austrian-Swiss filmmaker Edward Berger, who also helmed the recent adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front (2022). Conclave impresses with its cinematography and evocative score, keeping audiences engaged as we watch various old men argue.
Conclave follows Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), the Dean of the College of Cardinals, tasked with organizing the Papal Conclave by hosting over 100 cardinals in Rome to vote on the next pope. In the first act we are introduced to a variety of cardinals along the political spectrum arriving at the Vatican. Among them are the very liberal—by Catholic standards—American Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), who swears he doesn’t want the papacy; Cardinal Adeyami (Lucian Msamati), a socially conservative but economically progressive figure who would be the first Black Pope; the French Canadian moderate Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow), who plays the political game by offering concessions to detractors; and Italian traditionalist Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), who preaches against religious tolerance and diversity. Isabella Rossellini plays Sister Agnes, the head of Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, whose role in the case of an election is reduced to little more than wait staff.
The Conclave is immediately rocked with scandal when Cardinal Benitez, a secret appointee by the late pope who has been hiding for his safety due to being the Cardinal of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Cardinal Lawrence reveals further financial and sexual scandals to both the audience and the members of the Conclave.
The repeated mention of the Church’s universality very obviously tells the audience this is about far more than angry men in a room together. A strong reactionary force emerges, threatening to undo the Church’s limited progress, while liberal cardinals scramble to form a coalition to counter the threat. Sound familiar? The movie takes on this generalized critique of recent elections across Europe and the US, becoming an anxiety-inducing reminder of the real stakes of democracy: small progress can always be taken back by reactionaries.
The Dead Pope—as he is credited in the film—is referenced to be fairly liberal, although exactly how liberal is never specified. The pope is clearly a stand-in for the current Pope Francis, whose progressive stance on issues like the use of everyday language, as opposed to Latin, in mass has drawn criticism from conservative Catholics. The traditionalist Cardinal Tedesco espouses a view against the recent reforms of the Church. The reforms in question? Preaching a general religious tolerance, speaking masses in a language other than Latin, and a more diverse leadership. His stances lead him to adopt harsh pro-nativist language, railing against muslims emigrating to Italy and wider Europe. Meanwhile, the liberal Cardinals Lawrence and Bellini advocate for mild reforms—platitudes about tolerance, gay relationships, and women’s involvement in the Church—that fail to galvanize their supporters.
Cardinal Adeyami, on the other hand, is exciting. He represents the fast growing population of Catholics in Africa, who as of this year account for roughly 19% of all Catholics (compared to Europe’s 21%). His bid for papacy is opposed by conservatives who would prefer a traditional Italian (i.e. white) pope. His ascent would be a massive change for the Church, but his conservative views contradict that symbolic position by reversing the very little progress the Church has made. A sex scandal revealed during the conclave derails his papacy bid and results in the end of his arc.
Gender dynamics are at the heart of Conclave. While the cardinals pontificate sequestered from the outside world, the Sisters are the backbone of the Church. The film highlights the gender disparity of the Church by frequently cutting to the Sisters performing thankless housework to make the Cardinals comfortable. Rossellini is purposely silent for most of the film as the Sisters are instructed to be invisible to the Cardinals. The Cardinals, utterly helpless without the Sisters, rely on them to accomplish even mundane tasks; Cardinal Lawrence, for example, can barely operate a copy machine and turns to Sister Agnes to print and distribute evidence of impropriety to members of the Conclave. The liberal Cardinal Bellini offers meager reforms for women to take a greater role in the Church, what that actually entails is never stated, but is a common real world platitude Catholics like to bring up every time the debate returns.
The final twist of the movie reveals Cardinal Benitez, elected Pope just minutes ago, is intersex, assigned male at birth and carries both sets of reproductive organs—let me tell you, the conservative older woman sitting behind me gasped audibly. The Catholic Church, as most know, is not great at accepting trans men and women. The Church teaches a strict gendered society: men can be priests and women can be sisters, unable to say mass. A person is given a body by God and it is not theirs to “mutilate.” However, Cardinal Benitez is intersex and reveals he rejected a surgery to remove the additional set of organs, he embraced the uncertainty of life (a reference to Cardinal Lawrence’s homily earlier in the movie).
While the movie does not explore the Church’s depraved history of sex abuse scandals, it is mentioned in passing by several characters and hangs over the cardinals as they try to steer the ship. Instead, Conclave is more focused on the mundane issue of the Latin mass, which has taken on its own meaning in American Catholicism as a wedge issue between liberals and conservatives in the Church. To return to the Latin mass is to return to a time where women were invisible. The new congregations in Africa would be forced to learn Latin to preach to their members. It is the mundane issues which have the largest reverberations on progress
The end of the movie is optimistic, but not very subtle. Cardinal Lawrence opens a window, hears three young Sisters run out of the Sistine Chapel laughing, and watches as the wind (God?) literally closes the door. There is a way out of election hell: follow women. If nothing else, watch this movie with your conservative catholic family and wait for their reactions at the end.