Conclave

Edward Berger’s film comes from Robert Harris’s 2016 novel, and Peter Straughan made two decisive changes in adapting it. The novel’s Italian cardinal Lomeli became the English Lawrence for Ralph Fiennes, and Benítez, Filipino on the page, became Mexican and archbishop of Kabul. Carlos Diehz, who plays him, worked as an architect for over thirty years, started acting in 2020 and made his feature debut here. The Vatican would not allow filming, so the Sistine Chapel and the Casa Santa Marta were rebuilt at Cinecittà. Production designer Suzie Davies changed the seating on purpose: “we wanted our conclave to be more like a government, so the cardinals sat opposite each other.” The guest house was designed to sit close to a prison, and the costume department chose a seventeenth century red over today’s bright scarlet. Volker Bertelmann’s score uses a Cristal Baschet, played with wet hands. The film took eight nominations at the 97th Academy Awards and won one, Adapted Screenplay for Peter Straughan. At the BAFTAs it won four: Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Adapted Screenplay and Editing. A good fit if you want the drama carried by ballot counts, corridor whispers and points of procedure. Not for you if you need the late revelation prepared as carefully as everything before it.