Conclave is billed as a psychological thriller, and it is thrilling — for those who thrill to political infighting, and quiver with delight at the prospect of having an insider’s view of the machinations and self-serving deal-making most often found in political leadership conventions. The main differences? In the political sphere, where the task might be the choosing of a new leader for a political party (say: the federal Liberal party, in three to six months), the protagonists are MPs from various ridings across the country, who do their work in crisp suits in shades of grey, and highly polished (black) shoes, assisted by interns and minor party officials. In Conclave, where the setting is the Vatican in Rome, and the task the selection of a new pope to lead the Catholic church worldwide, the protagonists are Cardinals from dioceses around the world, who glide along marble corridors in brilliant scarlet robes and white mitres, their deliberations assisted by a phalanx of subservient nuns in dark grey robes and sensible shoes, who (if we accept the accuracy of the film’s research) oversee such vital tasks as meal prep, and ensuring that the Cardinals’ place settings at dinner are impeccable, the knives and forks properly aligned.

Based on the best-selling novel by Robert Harris, Conclave is directed by Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front), and features a high-powered cast, headed by Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, appointed by the recently-deceased Pope as Dean of the College of Cardinals, who is therefor charged with overseeing the papal conclave. Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow play their Eminences Cardinal Bellini (Tucci) and Cardinal Tremblay (Lithgow). They wear their Cardinal’s robes admirably, but I must admit that I had great difficulty shaking memories of them in earlier roles: Tucci as the charming host of a popular food-focussed tour of Italy on CNN; Lithgow as Winston Churchill in The Crown. Isabella Rossellini plays Sister Agnes, in what turns out to be a minor role indeed (she has two or three brief scenes, with her big dramatic moment lasting exactly 48 seconds, after which she essentially fades from view).

Are we surprised that women are in short supply in this film, and that their ability to influence church proceedings during a papal conclave is minimal? We are not; this is the Catholic church, after all, and the College of Cardinals is essentially an old-boys club much like old-boys’ clubs everywhere, except that these old boys get to dress up a little fancier in (to quote Wikipedia) “scarlet garments [which] include the cassock, mozzetta, and biretta (over the usual scarlet zucchetto),” and to say portentous things to each other such as “We are sequestered!”; and “No sane man would want the papacy!”; and “Every Cardinal has already chosen the name by which he wishes his papacy to be known!”

Conclave is not entirely devoid of the standard thriller thrills. There is a missing document, notes from a meeting between the late pope and one of the Cardinals, which — if found — would disqualify one of the leading contenders for the papacy. And there is some sort of terrorist activity going on outside the conclave on the streets of Rome, though we (and the Cardinals) experience these events only indirectly, the camera forcing everyone to stay hermitically sealed within the Vatican’s meeting rooms until a decision has been reached.

But for these and other plot points to thrill us as viewers, we need to become deeply invested in the outcome of the conclave, as if the future direction of the Catholic church — and by implication: the future of the world — depended on it; we must believe — fervently, if possible — that one candidate will set church doctrine back hundreds of years, while another, a rival, might begin to modernize the church, perhaps even (gasp) granting women a greater role. Only you can say whether Berger succeeds in this task, or whether he falls a bit short.

For me: Conclave falls well short of, say, The Silence of the Lambs on the psychological thriller scale. But Conclave still has much to recommend it, particularly if you thrill — even just a little — at the thought of seeing Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow going toe to toe in scarlet cassocks.

You can view the trailer for Conclave here. There are two screenings of Conclave during VIFF 2024: at 3:00 pm on Sunday September 29 at the Playhouse, and at 6:00 pm on Friday October 4 at the Playhouse. You can read additional details on the film at the VIFF website.

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