Running alongside our own national elections is the film Conclave, where a very different kind of election is detailed for us. 

Based upon a 2016 novel, this 2024 film outlines in detail what happens when a Pope dies, and thus requires the Church Cardinals to select one of their own as a new Pope.

A conclave is the sequestering of Cardinals until they vote for a successor to be the Pope. Votes are taken, counted, and unless one man receives a majority of votes, another round of voting follows. Black smoke is the signal to the crowds awaiting outside St. Peter’s in Rome that no one has yet been elected. White smoke signals that a new Pope has been elected and that he has accepted.

The film Conclave has been called a thriller. It is a very low-key thriller, with many character dramas and plot twists along the way. Established star Ralph Fiennes is Cardinal Lawrence, who has been appointed to run this voting Conclave. He and Cardinal Bellini, played by Stanley Tucci, were close friends of the deceased Pope, who, curiously, remains nameless. We witness the exotic secrets of what happens hidden behind sealed doors at the Vatican. 

Barred from filming on location, replicas of the Sistine Chapel (where the voting takes place), and Casa Santa Marta (where the Cardinals are housed), teems with authenticity.

In addition to Cardinals Lawrence and Bellini are Cardinal Tremblay, played with hypnotic intensity by John Lithgow, and as a surprise casting coup, the once international star and famed beauty Isabella Rossellini is Sister Agnes, boss lady of the nuns who cook the meals and serve them. Rossellini at times looks much worse for wear, adding to her gravitas, and her vital role in uncovering at least two dark secrets that pop up like dandelions in June. We run into a lot of potentially shady dealings, and some evidence that the late Pontiff was a busy bee with plenty of secrets.

The cast includes a tacky, biased Italian Cardinal who hates just about everything modern in the church, a Nigerian Cardinal who seems kind until we learn that he would prefer all gays to burn in Hell. Big oopsie. We have swirling plots, secrets galore, and Simony.

Adding to this is a new Cardinal no one knew about that the late Pontiff elevated secretly to Cardinal of Kabul, Vincent Cardinal Benitez, who seems to have plenty of secrets stashed away in several cubbyholes.

In all, Conclave is a mystery, and a detective story whose plots unfold one after another, only culminating in the climax, a true surprise you will never see coming.

Indeed, Ralph Fiennes shines as the protagonist, and is expected to be nominated for an Academy Award, as is the daring performance delivered by Isabella Rossellini.

Conclave may start slowly, but it gathers interest and fascination due to tight direction and exceptional cinematography all aiding and abetting a superlative cast.

Conclave is currently in wide distribution.