In the middle is everyone else, including a murder’s row of talented actors like John Lithgow and Lucian Msamati playing alternative cardinals vying for the papacy, and each representing a distinctly timely point-of-view about how power should be wielded in the years and culture wars to come, ecumenical or otherwise. Trying to corral all their egos is Fiennes’ central Lawrence, a priest who no longer is sure he believes in God but finds it a divine mission to bend rules and open laptops if it might mean discovering any possible political tampering occurring behind the scenes.
“Obviously you always want a movie to be of its time and reflect things,” Berger says of the film’s serendipitous release window. “We did lose the ability, and that is reflected in the movie, to really have a conversation and a civilized disagreement. In a way, the world is made of fundamentalists who are so certain about what they believe, and a lot of what the movie is about is accepting uncertainty.”
Despite the film’s heavy themes, the picture is actually a pretty crackling potboiler with more hard-turns and shocks than its setting would suggest. We won’t give any of them away, but it’s ironic that the film is coming out on the eve of an American election being watched around the world with bated breath—an election that has had its own surprises that might’ve seemed preposterous if they too appeared in a prestige thriller like Conclave.
“We obviously didn’t plan the movie to be released this year,” Berger muses about the irony. “We have been making it for years and years, so it’s coincidental. At the same time, it’s interesting to see how many twists you make in a movie, but you’re still almost topped by reality. [This American election] has even more twists, and I hope it has a good outcome in a couple weeks that is satisfactory to a lot of people in the world.”
With that said, Berger didn’t design this film solely to be a reflection of 2024. As the first movie Berger has made since receiving a screenwriting Oscar nomination for All Quiet on the Western Front, a film which also was nominated for Best Picture, Conclave was intended to be a breath of fresh air for the filmmaker. After doing a largely visual and silent film about the relentless nature of war, here is a thriller where most of the excitement is derived from dialogue and intellectual ideas coming into cerebral, and then sometimes physical, combat.
The German-Swiss director likens the project to a palate cleanser after having “the same conversation” with himself for five years on All Quiet. However, both movies still feature patriarchal leaders of men who enjoy throwing their weight around while setting terms against one another. Perhaps that’s why Berger credits his way into relating to Conclave being not only Cardinal Lawrence’s doubt, but a sermon in particular that Fiennes gives early in the movie and before the conclave officially begins. During his speech before the doors are shut and the windows covered, Fiennes intones about the importance of doubt in a pope who will be asked to represent every opinion, perspective, and soul in the Catholic world.