CONCLAVE🤩

PREMISE

When Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with leading one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events, selecting a new Pope, he finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could shake the very foundation of the Catholic Church.

THE GOOD STUFF

RALPH F******* FIENNES – For those who don’t know, Ralph Fiennes is one of the greatest character actors in the world. He has been knocking out home runs left and right for about 25 years or so, and he is possibly the most underappreciated talent in the game. To look at his resume, to see all the amazing s*** that he’s done, and then to see that he’s never won a Golden Globe or an Oscar and has only been nominated once for an Emmy is outright discombobulating. He has split his time on screen either being domineering sneering villains of a Shakespearean type of manner, (Schindler’s list, Harry potter, in Bruges) or playing somewhat reserved characters (Grand Budapest hotel, the English patient, maid in Manhattan, etc, etc., etc.).

In this movie, he is playing a somewhat reserved type. It’s everything surrounding him that is of the utmost intensity. Conclave is almost Shakespearean in its tale of the thirst for power. Many different storms are crashing around his character, and he has to do private detective work to discover who is serious about the job and who just wants its status. There are a lot of great supporting performances in this film. A lot. And Fiennes has amazing scene after amazing scene with literally everybody in the cast. This performance is built for Oscar consideration and, if I must say, is the absolute front-runner to win the trophy early next year.

CINEMATOGRAPHY – The look of this film is something else. The entire film, from front to back, is filled with amazingly gorgeous shots. Stunning filming locations aside, this movie uses the colors white, black, and red to stunning effect. They pop off the screen honestly and create this mysteriously intimidating environment. This is really a world that we are being transported into in many different ways.

SCORE – One of the more underrated elements of any good thriller is the use of its music. I wouldn’t say that the pieces of music used throughout the film are beautiful. That’s not the word for it. It’s just so haunting. And it’s not that elaborate orchestrated kind of score that so many Oscar-bait movies tend to have. I find that the score often shines in these transitional moments after or before big things happen. But when the big things happen, the score is either super quiet… or non-existent. When this score kicks in, it almost feels like the movie is signaling you to take a deep breath before the next crazy thing happens.

THE ENDING – Controversial as it is, I have to say this is one of the best endings I’ve seen in a movie in quite a few years. I live in Los Angeles, where movie theater audiences tend to clap when things are good and cheer when things are great. There have only been two moments where I’ve been in an auditorium filled with filmgoers and heard loud audible gasping. One movie was the end of Avengers: Infinity War and the other movie is… CONCLAVE. It is that shocking of an ending.

THE BAD STUFF

THE PRIZE – If you’re like me and you are unaware of the Pope has power and why all of these men resort to Shakespearean levels of betrayal at times to hold this power, then this movie will not tell you that answer. We all know that Popes are powerful, but if you’re not a religious person or a Catholic, then you kind of don’t really know the full extent and might have to look that s*** up.

Being really engrossed in this movie and not knowing the full extent of that power makes you question a lot of the decisions these men make to try to acquire that power. If you’re like me and you’re not aware, then that question just lingers in the back of your head throughout this running time and is quite distracting when certain scenes in this film occur.

THE UGLY STUFF

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When reading the synopsis of this film on paper, one could justifiably think that it is one of those Oscar-bait movies that are typically seen as boring, talky films. As far as it being talky, well, yes, it is that for sure. But there are a lot of misconceptions about CONCLAVE and what it is. This is not a drama. This is an outright political thriller about an election.

This film is so much stronger than it’s advertised to be. It’s much stronger than anything involving its press run could sell. It is well-paced, exquisitely performed, and endlessly fascinating. It’s thoroughly impossible to imagine Oscar season without this movie being mentioned quite a few times. 

CONCLAVE is in theaters now