‘Conclave’ 4K UHD (review)

Usually, when Hollywood seeks to thrill audiences with tales revolving around the Catholic Church, it is in the form of demonic possession horrors, and as recent years’ critical failures and lackluster financial takings have shown, audiences are decreasingly interested in formulaic slop, and the thriller Conclave is thankfully a completely different type of nail-biter revolving around the Catholic faith.

With Conclave, Edward Berger of All Quiet on the Western Front fame directs and seasoned writer for stage and screen Peter Straughan pens this intriguing tale of the conclave being held to elect a new Pope, highlighting the inherent political nature of organized religion through the drama that ensues when such a powerful position suddenly becomes available.

When the Pope unexpectedly dies, the preparations for the papal conclave immediately begin.

As the cardinals begin to arrive for this election process, their descent on the Vatican City portrays the groups of religious leaders as exuding a thuggish air, their arrival seething with anticipation, all of them wearing their hunger for the powerful position on their flowing sleeves.

From the first frame, it is made clear that the proceedings are perched on the precipice of disaster thanks to the callous ambitions of some of the candidates, and what ensues is an intricate thriller saturated by an undercurrent of wry wit.

Relishing in the intrigue swirling around the players, the game is set, and while the Devil may work hard, no one works harder than corrupt clergymen with their eyes on the ultimate seat of power in the Catholic Church, their hunger for power threatening to crush the fragile veneer of piety these self-serving servants of God are trying to maintain.

Filled to the brim with manipulation, hushed conversations, and secretive rendezvous in conspicuously quiet areas at all times of the day and night, the inherently eavesdropping nature of the narrative is further emphasized by the cinematography.

Utilizing camera angles that allows the audience to peer through windows and observe from hidden corners, the sense of secrecy and intrigue is evoked as being so profound that constricting it to the writing alone was impossible, and it must therefore also dictate how the cinematography steers the viewer through the story.

An intricate and sophisticated affair, many assaults and assassinations are conducted throughout the film, but the daggers are not the crude literal kind, but rather the stares, words, and other supposedly civilized gestures weaponized to their full lethal potential against the often-questionable integrity of a rival’s character.

The film presents a Vatican City enveloped in all its secretive decadence, emphasizing how the reality of the church and the reality of the secular world are at once intertwined as well as alien to one another.

A microcosm of the world at large, the Vatican City ultimately remains sequestered from the outside world, which emphasizes not only the secrecy of the papal conclave itself, but also how far removed the church is from the surrounding world that lies just beyond its doorstep, and thus why a powerplay inside a religious institution of this magnitude feels all too similar to the endless powerplays of the secular world, the ways in which these are conducted appearing suspiciously similar.

Whenever a film boasts an impressive cast the way Conclave does, the fear is always that it becomes a self-congratulatory squandering of talent with little to no substance, but Conclave abundantly delivers in thespian quality.

Long since having been established as one of the best of his generation, Ralph Fiennes delivers another powerful and delicately nuanced performance, just as Stanley Tucci once again reminds audiences of his excellent range, the interplay between Fiennes and Tucci creating a deeply watchable dynamic.

With few scenes and even fewer lines, Isabella Rossellini still manages to burn bright with subdued intensity in every frame she is present, and John Lithgow and Sergio Castellitto similarly leaves lasting impressions with their limited but utterly intense screen time.

As beautifully shot as it is engagingly acted, Conclave is another standout in a healthy year in film, and while not everyone will enjoy two hours of power-hungry religious leaders gunning for the title of Pope, this does not take away from Conclave being delectably good storytelling possessing exceptional craftsmanship both in front of and behind the camera.

Extras include featurette and commentary.

Verdict: 9 out of 10.