Conclave (2024)

Conclave is a drawing room mystery without a murder (perhaps). It is like something right out of Agatha Christie, only instead of a detective solving a murder, it is a Cardinal Dean (who happens to be running a Papal Conclave) attempting to solve a different sort of mystery, investigating just like a Poirot or Marple would do. Only this time the answer is something unexpected. 

Berger's work here is remarkable, using the ceremony, costuming, and Vatican setting to film a truly beautiful movie. This sort of Catholic pageantry makes for some incredible film making (as Coppola used it in his Godfather trilogy) and it's well on display here. His story telling is wonderful too. There is intrigue, twists and turns, like the page turner it is based on, without being too pulpy or sensational. Berger finds the right balance to keep us wondering at every turn. 

But for me the best part was the resolution, an ending that doesn't fit the mold. We keep waiting for there to be something nefarious going on and the little deviations along the way keep hinting but end up being more politics than transgressions. So that when we find out what may or may not have been kept hidden, it is something... well... something else entirely that makes us ask other questions about right and wrong, in this case, how this particular historic institution may be right or wrong in how it treats its members. 

So Conclave's strength is in how it uses its plot conceit and genre to make us think about things in a different way while remaining very gripping throughout. 

Conclave
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, Isabella Rossellini, Lucian Msamati, Carlos Diehz

Director: Edward Berger

Writer: Peter Staughan