Ben Oliver

Banner image for Conclave
film

Conclave

It is a war, and you have to commit to a side.
19 January 2025

A papal drama shot with such sobriety and gravity that it takes a while for the penny to drop and you the viewer to realise it’s pretty much a train-station pulp novel wearing a weird Vatican hat.

And it did sort of charm me. As the story wears on things get more and more implausible (but stop shy of a full-blown conspiracy plot line) but it’s all told with such a straight face and an almost boring tone that you mostly buy into it. A lot of that is Ralph Fiennes showing an exercise in restraint and quiet gravitas that makes the others look like Groucho Marx in terms of energy.

A fairly silly story shot beautifully and acted out by a wonderful cast (Isabella Rossellini, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow among others). It’s not gonna blow your mind but it’s a formula that does work.

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