Welcome back to the Midweek Movie Marathon where this week I will be talking about the movie that has soared in viewership over the past few days:” Conclave”. 

Conclave is about the death of the pope and the ceremonious and secretive gathering of the cardinals to vote on who will become the next pope.  

Conclave was released last year and received numerous accolades from film festivals and large awards. It has now surged in popularity once again due to the passing of Pope Francis. 

After a pope dies, Catholic cardinals from around the world assemble for the creation of a conclave. A conclave is the way in which the highest officials of the Catholic Church, the cardinals, vote on who will become the next pope. It is a highly secretive and sacred tradition that goes all the way back to the creation of the Vatican and the Holy See. 

What makes it so secretive is that, once the cardinals enter the Sistine Chapel, the door is locked behind them and no press or other person can interact with them while they vote. The only signal that viewers will get is the smoke that rises from the chimney, marking the decision or lack thereof. Black smoke means that voting is ongoing and white means a new pope is selected. 

“Conclave” is exactly what I just described. There is a conclave after the passing of the current pope and the cardinals debate on who is the best person to lead the billions of Catholics worldwide. The story follows Cardinal Lawrence as he is in charge of organizing the conclave and is the only one who can really receive information from outside the chapel. 

“Conclave” as a film does not have any action. It is a purely dialogue-based film with the interactions of characters being the driving force. While this may sound boring, and believe me, I think so too, it was actually very interesting. There are new complications to the conclave revealed throughout and it is quite tense as the voting pool gets narrower and narrower. The characters, especially Cardinal Lawrence, are enthralling. They make the audience want to dive deeper into the interpersonal connections and the histories between cardinals and the nuns. 

Conclave brings up questions about what is truly the focus of the church and the idea of traditional values versus a more progressive view.

This same idea of tradition versus progression is carried through to real life. The late Pope Francis was the first Pope to openly support the LGBT community and climate initiatives. He focused a lot on equality and was a major shaker in the centuries long history of the papacy.  

After Francis’s death the question remains on whether this trend of progression will continue in the wake of this conclave. 

The film itself has gained thousands of more views and has risen by 283%  since the Pope’s passing. With more people watching the film the accuracy of “Conclave” is called into question. Overwhelmingly, it is described as accurate. The film correctly portrays the divided voting and stressful decision making process of a conclave. 

This film is intriguing and fantastically shot. I would recommend anyone, religious or not, to watch it. It is cinematically beautiful and it is no wonder that it was nominated for best picture.