The Catholic Church has long been the epicenter of many peoples Christian faith around the world. Heading the Catholic Church is the Pope, and with the recent death of Pope Francis, many are left interested in how a new Pope is chosen when a Pope dies or retires.

Academy award nominated thriller, “Conclave,” was released just this past year in 2024. Though it received amazing reviews from critics while still in theaters, it skyrocketed in views since Pope Francis’ death on April 21.

Having watched “Conclave” in the days before writing this article, I feel well situated to give my thoughts on the movie and its potential impact on viewers who are watching it while a conclave is taking place in real life.

It’s said that a picture paints a thousand words, and for this movie, that phrase is definitely true. This movie shows viewers before telling them, drawing viewers in to pay close attention to every moment.

The movie starts off with the death of the Pope and introduces viewers to Cardinal Lawrance, played virtually to perfection by Ralph Fiennes, our protagonist, as well as a few of the other Cardinals that viewers will get to know better throughout the course of the movie.

Viewers quickly feel a sense of suspension as a result of questions as to where Lawrence’s relationship with the Pope stood at his death. We learn Lawrance was delayed in being told of the Pope’s death and that he was blocked by the Pope when attempting to resign as Cardinal.

Cardinal Lawrence is placed in charge of running the Conclave, which is the meeting of the Cardinals of the Catholic Church to elect the next Pope. Viewers are brought into Lawrence’s doubts of his own ability to lead this conclave and question every move that he makes.

During the movie, Lawrence, with the help of another Catholic official who is able to communicate with the outside world unlike the Cardinals, digs up secrets buried in the pasts of many Cardinals who are at the forefront of the voting to become the next Pope.

Many of these secrets are built up and found out at separate times, with Lawrence deciding on different methods of handling the knowledge of them.

With plot twist after plot twist, viewers, including myself, are always left guessing as to where the movie will go and who will be elected to become the next Pope, with Cardinals needing 2/3rds of the votes to be given the powerful position.

Every turn that “Conclave” takes brings the viewers in and plays on past issues and scandals that have long plagued the many world religions but have repeatedly been highlighted in the Catholic Church and Christian Church as a whole.

The director, Edward Berger, does a beautiful job of tying these secrets and larger suspense into a movie that can also educate viewers into what the Conclave actually might be like and how anxiety-inducing it can be to try to make such a large decision that will affect millions upon millions of people around the world.

The ending of “Conclave” will leave some viewers’ jaws on the literal floor, with the plot continuing to twist and turn until the very end, giving every reason for you, dear reader, to watch it yourself.