Conclave is one of the best movies of the year! I can confidently say that. Marked by The great performances of Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabel Rossellini, this film is a deliciously entertaining thriller that doesn’t shy away from the politics and corruption within the Catholic Church. But at the same time, offers hope about what religion should be in the modern world. Picking the new Pope is intriguing, to say the least, and I feel like there’s still a lot behind the scenes that people don’t know so of course it makes for a great story. But, I think, this is the best story about the Catholic Church since Angels and Demons with Tom Hanks. And just be warned, it will shock You at your very core how it all plays out in picking the new Pope.
You immediately dive into the sadness and the corrupted ambitions within the Catholic church when the Pope has died. As one of the Cardinals points out, it is a war. It’s not a peaceful transition. It’s control on how the biggest faith in the world will be steered. And it’s not hard to imagine that Cardinals will politic, bribe, and heavily influence the voting for the new Pope. And this film immediately shows you that it is no different than campaigning for political office, whether it’s in America or someplace else in the world. But I praise this film for keeping the audience guessing until the very end who the new pope will be and why. If you have not read the book, which the movie is based on then you will be shocked. The ending is not obvious and that is one of the most brilliant parts of this film. But what makes it truly worth watching is just the great performances of the four main actors especially of Ralph Fiennes Who turns in an Oscar-worthy performance that I predict will win him an Oscar for Best Actor. John Lithgow, Stanley Tucci, and Isabel Rosellini also give Oscar-worthy performances too.
The pacing in this film is brilliant and there is not a wasted scene that leaves you bored. My hat’s off to the editors for crafting together a well-timed thriller that doesn’t make you feel like you’ve been sitting in a theater for 2 hours. Every scene is meticulous and with purpose helping shape a fantastic film and that’s a rare achievement, especially with most films that are either too short or too long where the director couldn’t figure out what to cut so he left everything in an overbloated mess. Conclave certainly doesn’t suffer from That kind of insufferable filmmaking. But I feel what makes this movie unique is whether it’s true or not it does give the audience a peek through the looking glass of what the Cardinals go through in picking a new pope while also maintaining great character development especially that of the main character who is having a crisis of faith but also might end up being the Pope.
This is one of those rare films for me where I do not have any serious complaints. Conclave is filmmaking at its best. It is a masterful film with great character development and a surprise ending that will change your outlook for the better. And it is the performance of these great actors that really make the movie, but I have two small complaints. There isn’t enough story. We do get to know the characters, but I don’t always feel like we get to know them well enough and see the reasons for their motivations beyond wanting to be the Pope. There’s a great mystery within the story and at times I feel like we don’t get enough information about what’s really going on behind the scenes and that’s an editing problem. That has nothing to do with the director or the performances. Sometimes is necessary to make a film 2 hours or more to fill in the little bits and pieces that make a film fantastic. And the only other complaint is we don’t have enough time to get to know all of the characters. We get to know the important ones, but these two complaints go hand in hand with the fact that there could have been more time added to this movie to make it a full story. It will be interesting to see what deleted scenes were kept out that could have made this movie perfect.
However, don’t let that take away from the fact that this is a movie we’re seeing. I only is it a great commentary on religion and the purpose of the church in the modern age, but it is also a stark reminder that even men of God are still fallible. Men of God will still bribe and scheme and ignore their own morals to get what they want. It’s a great story that examines humanity and it’s very core. This has been one of my favorite films of 2024. It is definitely worth the price of a movie ticket and a film that will add to the great discussion of religion and morality. I do not see this film being forgotten for a long time. And The film is beautifully shot proving that they made the right choice to actually shoot in Vatican City and throughout Italy. Conclave Just might be the Best picture of the year, marked by great performances and a thrill ride of a story. If this movie doesn’t win an Oscar for something, it will be a real shame.
