Conclave (2024)

Jack and I really liked this story about choosing a new Pope in the Vatican. It's well described as a thriller and is on many Oscar short lists. Ralph Fiennes is very good as the dean of cardinals, as are Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and many more. Isabella Rossellini is possibly the only woman with lines––this movie fails the Bechdel test. To pass, a movie must feature (1) two named female characters (2) that talk with each other (3) about anything other than a man/men. Oh well, I can't speak for the Catholic church.

Director Edward Berger works from Peter Straughan's screenplay based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris. I'm streaming the tense soundtrack by Volker Bertelmann (also known as Hauschka) on Apple Music as I type.

Shout out to the magnificent photography by Stéphane Fontaine, editing by Nick Emerson, and production design by Suzie Davies, particularly the set dressing in the dormitory.

Fiennes was last blogged for The Menu, Tucci for Beauty and the Beast, Lithgow for Killers of the Flower Moon, Rossellini for Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Straughan for Our Brand Is Crisis, Bertelmann for Jules, Fontaine for Jackie, Emerson for Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang, and Davies for Mr. Turner. Berger may be best known for All Quiet on the Western Front, which, as noted in that blog post, I couldn't watch.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics are burning the white smoke with a 93% average and its audiences aren't far behind at 86. We rented it from Apple TV on December 3, but apparently now it's for sale for the same price on that platform and available on Peacock with a subscription.