Conclave2024

The fierce intelligence of Fiennes’s work is magnified by Berger’s elegant direction.

A Pope passes away and now the Curia must undergo the process of electing a new pope through the process called the Conclave. Cardinal Lawrence, the Dean of the college is tasked with the responsibility to manage the election process. However, his internal tension between duty and ambition, alongside the corrupted nature of Papal candidates, juxtaposes the values preached by the church with the flawed and sinful nature of man. One by one, the candidates are eliminated from the election process, with their downfall being reflected by one of the deadly sins. Ultimately film highlights how even the highest clergy members who profess the ideal are sinners and do not represent the ideal. It can be dangerous to place absolutely certainty on those that lead our spiritual lives. However, this message can be applied to all aspects of our life. Science, politics, religion, etc. We need to question any certainty we feel about the world because certainty will lead us astray from the truth. Overall, the film has breathtakingly beautiful cinematography with vivid sound design that builds up awe and suspense effectively. This story telling is engaging with plenty of twists that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. However, some complaints that I do have is that because most of the dialogue is gossip about other candidates, it was difficult to follow who was who during the first part of the film. This unfortunately rendered a lot of the early dialogue useless, especially because the characters would switch between using the Cardinal's first name and last name. Furthermore, the final twist at the end of the film was quite unnecessary and blunted the effect of the plot twist which had just happened moments before (Benitez being elected as Pope).

The thriller is both a thought-provoking investigation into real-life themes and human flaws but also an undoubtedly entertaining exercise, one where the simple act of dropping off ballots becomes a crucial aspect of a scintillating, white-knuckle affair.