TIFF Mini-Reviews - Conclave

Conclave is a drama/thriller that focuses on the election of a new pope in the Vatican, with most of the action taking place once the Cardinals have been sequestered from the outside world for their deliberations. It involves all of the political intrigue and corruption that you might expect from any other kind of election, as well as some genuinely funny moments. Unfortunately, several of the twists and turns don’t feel like they organically developed from the story, but rather were thrown in to forcibly move the story in a different direction. 

Ralph Fiennes is mesmerizing as Cardinal Lawrence.

In the post-screening Q&A the director Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) stated that the thing that drew him to the story most was the inner struggle of the lead character, Cardinal Lawrence (played by Ralph Fiennes). His attention to this character shows. As a character study of Lawrence, it’s a very good movie. Unfortunately, many of the other characters are little more than stand-ins for political positions, and the rest of the film doesn’t hold together nearly as strongly as Lawrence’s character arc.

Despite the story’s weakness at times, the movie is filled with excellent performances by talented actors such as Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, and newcomer Carlos Diehz. It also boasts a captivating score by Volker Bertelmann (who won the Oscar for his score for All Quiet). But by far the best thing the movie has going for it is the acting performance by Fiennes. This shouldn’t be a surprise, as he’s been a consistently excellent actor for over 30 years now, but this is still a stand out role for him. His performance, as a Cardinal struggling with doubt, was often mesmerizing. Right now, he’s on my short list of actors from movies this year that deserve an Oscar nomination.