When the old pope dies of a heart attack the Cardinals gather at the Vatican for a papal conclave to pick the next Holy Father under the watchful eye of Cardinal Dean Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) who's put in place to manage the whole thing. There's main four men in the running, American liberal Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci), Canadian moderate Cardinal Tremblay (John Lithgow), right-wing Italian Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) and conservative Nigerian Cardinal Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) and added to that are Lawrence himself and a newbie Cardinal Cincent Benitez. What follows is a behind the scenes power struggle, which ignoring all Hollywood excesses, features no sinister deadly assassins bumping off people, no car chases, no roof-top chases, no hot nun–on-nun action and no final fight between Cardinal Dean Lawrence and an albino killer trying to protect the truth.
Instead it's a beautifully nuanced and sedate drama as Cardinal Lawrence tries to manage the conclave whilst dealing with a series of dramas and rumours that threaten to prove somewhat problematic.
The trailer, as trailers do, paint this as a dramatic, and sinister conspiracy thriller, and while there is intrigue and a truth to be revealed, it's not a rip-roaring action packed drama. It's the sort of film where the ultimate pay off is surprising and satisfying, but the journey is what makes it worthwhile, subtle and mannered.
This is a beautiful looking film, the locations and sets help ground this perfectly. The performances, particularly by Fiennes whose film this is, are superb and each of the four main contestants for the papal post bring real depth and are all excellent. The truth at the core of the film is an intriguing one and the political machinations of the four would-be popes is expertly handled. But it's the glimpse behind the scenes of the life of devoutly religious men and women that makes this such an entertaining film. Once you realise there won't be sinister papal assassins, or sexy nuns, or murder or conspiracies that threaten the whole world, and you settle into ebb and flow of Vatican life you should find yourself caught up in the subtle intrigue that threads through the whole thing and leaves you wondering at the end at all all that has unraveled.
To be honest, I really can't fault this, it's the sort of film I find myself gravitating to and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
8/10
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