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Edward Berger
Conclave (2024), an adaptation of Robert Harris' novel (2016), is not so much a thriller as the portrait of a complex soul, who is searching for his own God while being in charge of presiding over the election of God's minister on Earth. The story is not particularly interesting and of course it mainly caters to the "transgender" debates of the era. The psychological portrait almost works but it is ruined precisely by the "whodunit" part, where one revelation after the other simply turns the protagonist into a detective.
The film opens with the death of the Pope. Thomas is the cardinal in charge of presiding over the ceremonies, first of the funeral and then of the conclave that has to elect the next pope. The cardinals arrive, assisted by nuns. They are all surprised when an unknown cardinal shows up: cardinal Benitez of Afghanistan, who was secretly appointed by the pope.
The first round of votes simply introduces the favorites:
cardinal Bellini, a progressive,
cardinal Adeyemi of Nigeria,
cardinal Tremblay of Canada,
cardinal Tedesco of Italy, a conservative,
and Thomas himself, a Briton.
Just before the cardinals seal themselves in the Sistine Chapel and Vatican living quarters, a Polish archbishop informs Thomas that the pope, just before dying, asked Tremblay to resign. Thomas confronts Tremblay who denies. Meanwhile, there is intrigue by all the progressives determined to prevent the conservative Todesco from being elected. They unite to support
Bellini but some cardinals vote Thomas, thus splitting the progressive vote.
We see that Thomas honestly does not want to become pope, and in fact he had asked the pope to resign because he is having a religious crisis.
Thomas is not supposed to interact with the outside world but asks his trusted assistant to investigate cardinal Benitez and finds out that the pope paid for Benitez to fly to a hospital in Switzerland, implying that his health is not good.
After a few rounds of voting, Adeyemi seems to be the favorite but one day an African nun makes a scene and Thomas learns that Adeyemi had a child with her. Adeyemi cries but has to resign to withdrawing.
Tremblay is now the new favorite, but Thomas finds out that the African nun was picked by Tremblay, presumably to destroy Adeyemi's reputation.
Now even more suspicious of Tremblay, Thomas asks his assistant to doublecheck the Polish priest's story and the assistant interviews the only witness of that meeting and confirms that the pope didn't want Tremblay to become pope.
Thomas is not supposed to be a detective but decides to break into
the dead pope's sealed apartment. There he finds a secret report detailing bout Tremblay was buying the votes of the other cardinals.
Thomas tells all the cardinals about Tremblay's dishonest behavior and Thomas himself become the favorite of the progressives.
During the new round of voting, an explosion rips the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and a beam of sunshine blinds Thomas.
The cardinals learn that Islamic terrorists have staged multiple attacks.
This plays into Todesco's hands who rants against tolerance.
Benitez rises and tells them that he has been serving in Congo, Iraq and Afghanistan and that violence cannot be fought with violence.
Benitez is elected pope and chooses the papal name of "Innocentius".
However, Thomas' assistant finds out why Benitez was to be hospitalized: he was born both male and female, and the pope wanted him to get surgery, but Benitez refused and is still a transgender person.
The crowd is already cheering the election of the new pope and Thomas decides not to reveal the ambiguous sex of Benitez.
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