Lucian Msamati Archives

Review: ‘Conclave’ (2024), starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto and Isabella Rossellini

October 25, 2024

by Carla Hay

Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci in “Conclave” (Photo courtesy of Focus Features)

“Conclave” (2024)

Directed by Edward Berger

Some language in Italian and Spanish with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Vatican City, the dramatic film “Conclave” (based on the novel of the same name) features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few black people and Latin people) who are Catholic Church clergy people of various titles and rankings.

Culture Clash: A cardinal from the United Kingdom gets caught up in turmoil and scheming during a sequestered conclave to elect a new pope of the Catholic Church.

Culture Audience: “Conclave” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and well-made dramas about behind-the-scenes politics in the Catholic Church.

John Lithgow in “Conclave” (Photo by Philippe Antonello/Focus Features)

“Conclave” offers a gripping and well-acted portrayal of cutthroat scheming and betrayals that can go into choosing a new pope for the Catholic Church. It’s a fictional drama but entirely plausible. Twists and turns make it a unique and suspenseful movie that will surprise many viewers with its final outcome.

Directed by Edward Berger and written by Peter Straughan, “Conclave” is based on Robert Harris’ 2016 novel of the same name. “Conclave” had its world premiere at the 2024 Telluride Film Festival and its Canadian premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Stellar cast performances and skillful filmmaking are the reasons why “Conclave” is a better-than-average movie, with very little flaws.

“Conclave” takes place entirely in Vatican City, the Italian city-nation ruled over by the pope of the Catholic Church. (“Conclave” was actually filmed in Rome and in Caserta, Italy.) The story is told from the perspective of a Catholic cardinal from the United Kingdom named Thomas Lawrence (played by Ralph Fiennes), who gets caught up in a maelstrom of secrets and potential scandals that affect his decisions throughout the movie. Cardinal Lawrence, the dean of the College of Cardinals, is a well-respected and popular leader who is a reluctant candidate to be the new pope because he is having doubts about his Catholic faith.

The movie, which takes place over the course of about one month, begins by showing Cardinal Lawrence arriving in Vatican City because an unnamed elderly pope (played by Bruno Novelli) has suddenly died, reportedly of a heart attack. As is the custom/policy of the Catholic Church, the College of Cardinals members from around the world gather in person in Vatican City to have a sequestered conclave to choose a new pope. The elected pope must receive a two-thirds majority of the votes.

“Conclave” makes it clear that the decision-making process is very much influenced by the individual cardinals’ personal political beliefs, as well as other factors such as race and nationality. Several characters play crucial roles in the sometimes-ruthless actions that take place over the course of the story. These characters are:

Cardinal Thomas Lawerence, who considers himself to be politically liberal and believes that the Catholic Church should be held more accountable for crimes such as sexual abuse committed by and enabled by Catholic clergy.
Cardinal Aldo Bellini (played by Stanley Tucci) from the United States is the candidate with the most progressive political views, such as his belief that the Catholic Church should no longer condemn homosexuality.
Cardinal Tremblay (played by John Lithgow) from Canada is the candidate who is the most transparently ambitious and is very skilled at getting people to be on his side.
Cardinal Tedesco (played by Sergio Castellitto) from Italy is the candidate who has the most conservative political views, such as his belief that homosexuality, abortion and artificial birth control should be outlawed.
Cardinal Adeyemi (played by Lucian Msamati) from Nigeria is another politically conservative candidate, who would be the first African/black pope of the Catholic Church if elected.
Cardinal Vincent Benitez (played by Carlos Diehz)—originally from Mexico but assigned to live in Kabul, Afghanistan—is a mysterious candidate who arrives on short notice and reveals that he was secretly appointed to be a cardinal by the pope who is now deceased.
Cardinal O’Malley (played by Brían F. O’Byrne) from Ireland is a trusted ally of Cardinal Lawrence.
Cardinal Wozniak (played by Jacek Koman) from Poland is a trusted confidant of the pope who is now deceased.
Sister Agnes (played by Isabella Rossellini) is a mostly quiet observer of what happens during the conclave.

Three weeks after the pope’s death, the conclave is set to convene. Tensions are running high because it’s very probable that a majority vote will be difficult to reach. On the day before the conclave begins and becomes sequestered, three things happen that alter the course of the story’s events.

First, Cardinal Benitez shows up with a letter that Cardinal Benitez says is proof that the pope had secretly appointed Cardinal Benitez to this position. There is no time to verify this letter, which looks like an authentic document. Cardinal Lawrence lets Cardinal Benitez join the conclave.

Second, Cardinal Lawrence and Cardinal Bellini confirm their private alliance to prevent Cardinal Tedesco or any other politically conservative cardinals from winning the election. Cardinal Lawrence promises not to actively campaign for himself, so that votes can go to Cardinal Bellini instead of Cardinal Lawrence. Publicly, Cardinal Lawrence must appear outwardly neutral. Privately, he and Cardinal Bellini and a few other allies have decided that the new pope must be politically liberal so that the Catholic Church won’t go back to oppressive policies.

Third, a nervous and sweaty Cardinal Wozniak tells Cardinal Lawrence that Cardinal Tremblay was the last person to see the pope alive, and the pope had decided to fire Cardinal Tremblay. Cardinal Wozniak says that shortly before the pope died, the pope told Cardinal Wozniak that the pope had a meeting with Cardinal Tremblay to demand Cardinal Tremblay’s resignation, which was supposed to be announced. Cardinal Mendoza (played by Rony Kramer), who is not part of the conclave, was also in this meeting, according to what Cardinal Wozniak says the pope told Cardinal Wozniak.

Cardinal Wozniak says that the pope would not give details of why Cardinal Tremblay was being fired, but the pope said the reasons would soon become clear enough. The pope died soon after having a separate private meeting with Cardinal Tremblay when Cardinal Tremblay and the pope were the only ones in the room. No one has accused Cardinal Tremblay of harming the pope, but there’s room for suspicion that Cardinal Tremblay could have done something that caused the pope’s death.

On the first day of the conclave, Cardinal Lawrence delivers a speech to the College of Cardinals members who are assembled. He says in the speech: “Certainty is the deadly enemy of unity.” Cardinal Lawrence adds, “If there was only certainty and no doubt, there would be no doubt, and therefore no need for faith.”

The speech is a reflection of Cardinal Lawrence’s inner turmoil about his current crisis of faith. Cardinal Lawrence later confides in Cardinal Benitez that after the new pope is elected, Cardinal Lawrence plans to resign from his position as dean of the College of Cardinals because Cardinal Lawrence is having doubts about his faith in the Catholic Church.

During the first day of the conclave, Cardinal Lawrence asks Cardinal Tremblay if it’s true that the pope had demanded that Cardinal Tremblay resign or get fired, based on what Cardinal Wozniak reported. Cardinal Tremblay completely denies what Cardinal Wozniak is claiming. Cardinal Tremblay adds that Cardinal Wozniak can’t be trusted because Cardinal Wozniak has a drinking problem.

Cardinal Mendoza, the only other person in that meeting where the pope allegedly fired Cardinal Tremblay, cannot be questioned by Cardinal Lawrence while Cardinal Lawrence is sequestered. However, while everyone is sequestered, Cardinal Lawrence sends Cardinal O’Malley (who is not sequestered) to interview Cardinal Mendoza about this meeting and get a message relayed back to Cardinal Lawrence with information on what Cardinal Mendoza said in the interview. The movie shows the outcome and who was telling the truth.

During the election process, the votes fail to reach a majority at least four times. The person who gets the most votes isn’t always the same person during this process. Meanwhile, scandalous secrets emerge for a few of the candidates. And these exposés alter the course of the election. Through it all, Sister Agnes sees a lot of what is going on and then makes a move that is also impactful.

Fiennes, Tucci, Lithgow, Diehz and Msamati give standout performances as five of the cardinals who are involved in this battle for papal power. Cardinal Tedesco is supposed to be very charismatic and persuasive, but his role as the presumed leading conservative candidate is surprisingly not as prominent in the movie as it could have been. Castellitto is quite good in the role, but he is overshadowed by performances that get more screen time.

Issues of race and gender are overtly and subtly mentioned in the story. In a semi-private conversation in a group dining hall, Cardinal Tedesco tells another cardinal that certain candidates have no chance of winning because of certain characteristics that they have. He then makes a nodding gesture toward Cardinal Adeyemi, in an obvious reference to Cardinal Adeyemi being black.

Except for Sister Agnes and another nun named Sister Shanumi (played by Balkissa Maiga), women are mostly background characters. And all of the women who are in these conclave quarters are there to serve the men. As “progressive” as Cardinal Lawrence and Cardinal Bellini think they are about women’s issues—for example, Cardinal Lawrence and Cardinal Bellini believe that Catholic women should be allowed to use artificial birth control and undergo IVF treatments—Cardinal Lawrence and Cardinal Bellini still cling to the belief that women cannot hold the most powerful positions in the Catholic Church.

“Conclave” is a tension-filled depiction of power moves among Catholic Church officials that show how choosing a new pope is more about politics than about religion. The cinematography by Stéphane Fontaine is artfully filmed (there’s a stunning-looking top-down aerial scene of the conclave members holding umbrellas in the rain), while the movie’s editing and production design are also superb. “Conclave” ultimately succeeds in reminding viewers that those who have been given holy and religious titles are still flawed human beings who can do things that are anything but holy.

Focus Features released “Conclave” in U.S. cinemas on October 25, 2024.

Review: ‘See How They Run’ (2022), starring Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Ruth Wilson, Harris Dickinson, Reece Shearsmith and David Oyelowo

September 14, 2022

by Carla Hay

Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan in “See How They Run” (Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh/Searchlight Pictures)

“See How They Run” (2022)

Directed by John Patton Ford

Culture Representation: Taking place in London, mostly in 1953, the comedy/drama film “See How They Run” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some black people and Asian people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A jaded police inspector and his rookie partner, who have opposite personalities and contrasting styles of working, investigate serial murders that appear to be linked to the planned-for movie adaptation of Agatha Christie’s murder mystery play “The Mousetrap.”

Culture Audience: “See How They Run” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in movies that are inspired by Agatha Christie mystery novels.

Ruth Wilson, Reece Shearsmith, Harris Dickinson, Sian Clifford, Pearl Chanda, Jacob Fortune Lloyd, David Oyelowo and Ania Marson in “See How They Run” (Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh/Searchlight Pictures)

“See How They Run” doesn’t quite reach the classic heights of Agatha Christie murder mysteries, which are this comedy/drama movie’s admitted inspirations. However, it’s worth watching for the entertaining performances and clever observations of showbiz. The last third of “See How They Run” stumbles a bit in how the mystery is revealed, but it doesn’t take away from the movie’s overall appeal to viewers who are interested in British movies that poke fun at the entertainment industry in a story about solving crimes.

“See How They Run” is the feature-film directorial debut of Tom George, who is known for directing in British television. His TV credits include his BAFTA-winning work directing the BBC comedy show “The Country,” as well as the BBC comedy “Defending the Guilty.” His keen sense of comedic timing serves “See How They Run” very well, since most Agatha Christie-styled movies definitely do not have the screwball comedy qualities that are in “See How They Run.” Mark Chappell wrote the “See How They Run” screenplay, which is better at crafting characters than it is as explaining some of the unanswered questions in this murder mystery.

Every movie inspired by Agatha Christie’s writing has a fairly large ensemble of characters who are considered suspects or persons of interests in the murder case until the real killer or killers can eventually be revealed. The body count in “See How They Run” is a lot lower than a typical story of this ilk, but that just makes it more intriguing to guess who’s behind the murders. Fortunately, the movie isn’t cluttered with too many chararacters, so it’s easy to keep track of who everyone is.

“See How They Run,” which is set primarily in 1953 London, also balances multiple layers, because it’s a story with several flashbacks, as well as a whodunit that’s directly tied to the real-life, long-running West End production of Christie’s “The Mousetrap.” Although most of the characters in “See How They Run” are fictional, some of the characters are based on real people, including Christie herself. The movie does a better job at handling the flashbacks than it does in trying to show parallels between “The Mousetrap” and the original screenplay for “See How They Run.”

“See How They Run” opens with a scene that is later referred to in flashbacks. In 1953, on London’s West End, several people have gathered for a nighttime party at the Dominion Theatre, to celebrate the 100th performance of “The Mousetrap.” Among the partiers are members of the cast and some people who are involved in making a feature film version of “The Mousetrap,” including American director Leo Köpernick (played by Adrien Brody), who has been blacklisted in Hollywood, due to the Red Scare targeting suspected Communists.

The night of this party will also be the last night of Leo’s life, since he will be murdered in a backstage costume shop by a mystery person wearing a trench coat, a mask and a fedora. The murderer definitely looks like a man, but with these mystery stories, the killer’s gender can’t always be presumed. At first, Leo is attacked by the murderer trying to strangle Leo with a wire. Leo breaks free, but is killed when the murderer beats him to with a fire extinguisher.

A now-dead Leo then provides intermittent narration for the rest of the movie. Not everyone who watches this movie will like this “voice from the dead” narration. However, it’s a director choice that’s quite unconventional and provides a perspective that doesn’t make things easy for viewers, because Leo is eventually exposed as a sleazy character who might be an unreliable narrator.

The two cops who end up being the primary investigators for Leo’s murder are two very opposite people: Inspector Stoppard (played by Inspector Sam Rockwell) is a world-weary alcoholic, who approaches the investigation with a skepticism where he doesn’t come to any conclusions until he sees indisputable evidence. Constable Stalker (played by Saiorse Ronan) is an eager-to-please rookie who’s an Irish immigrant with a tendency to jump to conclusions without hard evidence.

Predictably, Stoppard and Stalker often clash, with Stoppard embodying the cliché of an older cop who’s forced to work with a younger cop and is frequently annoyed by the younger cop in the process. It doesn’t help that Stoppard is very sexist and doesn’t believe that police detective work is a job that women can do as well as men. The supervisor for Stoppard and Stalker is a police commissioner named Harrold Scott (played by Tim Key), who is more concerned about his own public-relations image and career ambitions than he is about getting justice for the crimes investigated by his department.

It isn’t long before Stoppard and Stalker have a group of people to interview and investigate. They include:

Petula “Choo” Spencer (played by Ruth Wilson), the no-nonsense producer/chief investor of “The Mousetrap” play. It’s later revealed that she has a motive to prevent the movie version of “The Mousetrap” from getting made.
Mignon Saunders (played by Ania Marson), Petula’s eccentric mother. Mignon doesn’t say much, but does that mean she knows more than she’s telling?
John Woolf (played by Reece Shearsmith), the wealthy film producer of “The Mousetrap” movie. (This character is based on the real John Woolf.) John is the person who decided to hire Leo, because of Leo’s talent and track record of making award-winning films.
Ann Saville (played by Pippa Bennett Warner), John’s administrative assistant and his mistress. Ann is every much in love with John and expects him to eventually divorce his wife and marry Ann.
Edana Romney (played by Sian Clifford), John’s wife, who considers herself to be an amateur psychic. It’s revealed in the movie if she knows about John’s affair with Ann.
Mervyn “Merv” Cocker-Norris (played by David Oyelowo), the pompous screenwriter for “The Mousetrap” movie. Mervyn and Leo were feuding because Leo didn’t like Mervyn’s script, but Mervyn refused to do a rewrite. Not long before Leo was murdered, Leo and Mervyn had a very public argument where Mervyn threatened to kill Leo.
Giovanni “Gio” Bigotti (played by Jacob Fortune-Lloyd), Mervyn’s Italian lover, who is fairly quiet and very supportive of Mervyn. Giovanni and Mervyn are a gay couple in a “don’t ask, don’t tell way,” where they don’t make it obvious but they don’t try to hide the nature of their relationship either.
Dennis (played by Charlie Cooper), a Dominion Theatre usher who reported that he saw a “suspicious”-looking man lurking in the area where Leo’s murdered body was found.
Richard “Dickie” Attenborough (played by Harris Dickinson), the hotshot actor who’s the star of “The Mousetrap” play. Based on the real Attenborough, this character wants to do everything possible to keep the play going
Sheila Sim (played by Pearl Chanda), Dickie’s actress wife (based on the real Sheila Sim), whose career has become overshadowed by Dickie’s. Sheila and Dickie, who are co-stars in “The Mousetrap” play, have been experiencing some problems in their marriage, and their relationship has become somewhat strained.

World-renowned mystery writer Christie (played by Shirley Henderson) makes an appearance in the last third of the movie and does something awkward that isn’t handled very well or is made believable, considering that she is a crime aficionado. This tricky scene is played for laughs, but it could have been thought out in a much better way. Her devoted husband Max Mallowan (played by Lucian Msamati) and her prickly butler Fellowes (played by Paul Chahidi) also make appearances toward the end of the movie.

Constable Stalker is often a bundle of nervous energy when she’s with Inspector Stoddard. She talks quickly and is eager to share her knowledge of movies (she’s a big fan) and crime novels, but he shows disdain for this fiction entertainment influencing her thoughts as police investigator. Later, when Constable Stalker and Inspector Stoddard spend some time alone together, they open up to each other about their personal lives. She’s a widow with a son and a daughter. He’s divorced (his wife left him) with no children. Constable Stalker eventually finds out about Inspector Stoddard’s alcoholism and sees how vulnerable his alcoholism makes him.

Of course, every murder mystery reveals secrets about the people who are being investigated. Leo is not a sympathetic victim. The police find out that he has a long history of sexually harassing and possibly sexually assaulting women. Leo kept meticulous records of the women he encountered.

As an example of Leo being a sexual predator, he was staying at the luxury Savoy Hotel (in a suite paid for by John), where the maids eventually refused to go in Leo’s suite because of how badly he was sexually harassing them. On the night that Leo was murdered, he and Dickie got into a huge physical brawl in front of the party crowd. The fight happened because Leo sexually propositioned Sheila, by implying that Leo would cast her in “The Mousetrap” movie if she had sex with him.

“See How They Run” is filmed and performed much like how this movie would look if it really were filmed in 1953. This type of retro filmmaking won’t appeal to everyone, but the movie does a competent job of recreating the British culture, fashion and production design of that era. There are signs and not-so-subtle indications that Constable Stalker is an outsider not just because she’s a woman in a very male-dominated field but also because she’s an Irish immigrant living in the England.

Rockwell and Ronan, who are both talented in whatever they do, have a crackling chemistry as Stoppard and Stalker that intentionally starts off as uncomfortable to watch but becomes somewhat endearing as Stoppard and Stalker begin to trust each other in this “odd couple” police partnership. Oyelowo is also a standout because he looks like he’s having fun playing the pretentious and flamboyant Mervyn, who has some of the best lines in the movie.a

“See How They Run” falters with a few murky plot developments that raise questions that aren’t really answered. One of them involves the identity of Stoppard’s ex-wife. However, the movie does effectively lampoon a lot of the stereotypes of murder mystery movies, such as the use of flashbacks and using the most obvious suspects as red herrings. There are also many satirical moments about what showbiz people say and do in pursuit of fame, fortune and power.

Are there much better murder mystery movies in the world? Of course. “See How They Run” isn’t among the cream of the crop. However, for people who are inclined to like this genre and like watching talented cast members who give capable performances, this movie can offer some enjoyable escapism.

Searchlight Pictures will release “See How They Run” in U.S. cinemas on September 16, 2022. The movie was released in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2022.