Harry's Movie Review

Conclave follows Cardinal Lawrence as he navigates the secret ritual of electing a new Pope, only to discover a conspiracy that threatens the Church itself. Edward Berger directs this as a genuine thriller, not a prestige drama looking for tears. It works because it refuses to make you feel the emotions it wants you to feel.

Fiennes carries the film with minimal expression, letting you track his uncertainty through small shifts in posture and tone. Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and the rest of the cardinals all seem to exist in this world rather than performing in one. Isabella Rossellini appears briefly but lands every moment she gets. The cast understands that power plays happen in quiet rooms, not through big speeches about conviction.

The pacing is deliberate without dragging. Berger lets scenes breathe, which means when tension arrives it actually lands. The Vatican becomes a character itself, all marble corridors and closed doors where information leaks slowly. My one note: the final act maneuver asks you to accept a particular explanation, and whether that lands depends on how closely you were paying attention in the middle sections.

What stayed with me was how the film treats faith as secondary to politics. Nobody here is wrestling with God. They are wrestling with power, survival, and what they are willing to believe about each other. That refusal to add a spiritual dimension makes it feel honest in a way most Vatican stories are not.