Conclave (2024)

Jan 24

Church is officially cool again.

Presentation:

A political thriller House of Cards Vatican edition particularly because of the precise cinematography shot on Red Raptor and Arri Signature Primes. The look is quite pristine and clinical at times, really carried by the color of the wardrobe and impressive set design. They obviously could not shoot at the Vatican so they created an entire set, which actually looks incredible. It’s quite well shot with great cinematography, composition and camera movement, though beautiful as it is on the outside it lacks the substance it pretends it has. I would say it’s a very approachable political thriller targeted toward adults but the edgy movie trailer soundtrack feels forced to make it more approachable for mass audiences. I think this choice makes the mature content more digestible, which makes sense when you consider the final message of the film. There are basically six players in the fight for Pope: 2 conservatives, one liberal, Ralph Fiennes the mediator, a moderate and an outsider. They make the plot quite easy to follow in the 2 hour run time and it explains all the context of rules and cardinals quite smoothly, all you have to do is keep up with the names. However, it ends up being a bit too simplistic in the end, lacking depth for more hardcore political intrigue.

Analysis:

The double twist at the end reveals that Cardinal Benitez is intersex with both male and female anatomy. This surprise builds upon the first twist of him winning to begin with, but felt very sudden. I mean everyone at the Vatican is doing background checks, you only reveal the crucial elements at the moment where it is most volatile? It just felt a little random and not properly built up aside from adjacent themes of liberal versus traditional Catholic values, which suggest that this plot somewhat compares itself to the modern political landscape. From the get-go, we’re sort of fed that the traditionalists are bad and liberal American Cardinal played by Stanley Tucci is good. I think all the players were quite one dimensional especially the conservative Italian, whom was far too over done with his war mongering rhetoric for a religious man. So this is deceptively another progressive social commentary, but it unfortunately doesn’t have the sophistication or depth for hard core conspiracy fans. Being as it is marketed toward Catholics whom I assume are mostly conservative, I also don’t know how it will be received by the target audience. But considering the contemporary presentation, I think it should be worth the watch and make church exciting again.

Conclusion:

I really enjoyed the first half of the film. It’s not exactly predictable and the build up gets more exciting as the games elevate. However, it all feels a bit shallow and sudden with not a whole lot of stakes. It’s not so much fraudulent as it feels like it insists on its gravitas too much. At its core, it’s also a much softer political thriller given its setting compared to some of the more violent, sexual and treacherous backstabbing we’ve become accustomed to from Game of Thrones. The extra twist for me felt very unnecessary likely to catch you off guard as it’s somewhat out of place, but should be appealing overall for its needed contemporary spin on religion in cinema. I think it’s worth the watch even if you may ultimately find some aspects of the film to be deceptively shallow.

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