“Conclave” (2024)
For better or worse, “Conclave” was just a two-hour episode of “The Real Cardinals of Vatican City” dressed up as a thriller.
Hear me out: you’ve got folks dressed in gaudy Italian clothing, talking about each other behind each other’s backs, lots of pettiness and one bombshell revelation after another as they fight to sit next to Andy Cohen (or God, in this case) at the reunion (Heaven).
In all seriousness, “Conclave” follows 104 cardinals from around the world as they decide who among them should be the next leader of the Catholic Church after the pope dies suddenly.
Ralph Fiennes leads the cast as Cardinal Lawrence, who has been tasked with organizing and leading the conclave as they make this important decision.
The leading contenders for the seat seem to be conservative Italian Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), fellow conservative Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), moderate Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow) and progressive Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci).
The newly minted Cardinal Benitez (Carlos Diehz) from Kabul also plays a prominent role in this captivating thriller that takes a lot of twists and turns.
As captivating as “Conclave” may be, the constant barrage of insane twists does at time feel like the filmmakers are throwing everything but the kitchen sink into the plot.
This seems to counteract the terrific performances given by Fiennes, Msamati, Tucci, Diehz and Isabella Rosellini (we get a wonderful mic-drop moment from her character, a nun who runs the hospitality for the cardinals).
I did feel like I was watching an episode of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” or “Salt Lake City” at various points during “Conclave.” While I love watching those shows and have done pairings with them, it’s just not what I was expecting out of one of this season’s biggest Oscar contenders, a dramatic thriller about a bunch of Catholic leaders.