Edward Berger’s Conclave is a locked-room political thriller disguised as ecclesiastical pageantry. Adapted from Robert Harris’s 2016 novel by screenwriter Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Wolf Hall), the film transforms the election of a pope into a procedural suspense piece. It premiered at Telluride on 30 August 2024, opened US cinemas on 25 October via Focus Features, and reached UK theatres on 29 November through Black Bear UK.
Production and Origins
Producer Tessa Ross secured the rights to Harris’s unfinished novel in 2016 through a contact at her documentary neighbour’s company. Straughan read the manuscript in one sitting. “Movies about elections and sports are about as naked as conflict can get,” he told Deadline. A former altar boy turned nonbeliever, Straughan spent weeks on set – a rarity for screenwriters. Berger, whose All Quiet on the Western Front won the Oscar for Best International Feature in 2023, was announced as director in May 2022 with Fiennes, Lithgow, Tucci, and Rossellini attached. Steven Rales co-financed through Indian Paintbrush; Focus acquired North American rights in November 2023.
Filming took place in Rome from January to March 2023. Cinecittà Studios – the Fascist-era complex used by Fellini and Bertolucci – housed the reconstructed Sistine Chapel, built over 10 weeks from an existing set repaired after mouse damage, with the ceiling added via CGI. Production designer Suzie Davies made the Casa Santa Marta deliberately prison-like, with shuttered windows and cell-like doors, departing from the real building’s bland interior. Costume designer Lisy Christl chose a 17th-century cardinal red over the modern scarlet, finding it “far more beautiful.” Straughan consulted a cardinal about conclave logistics and toured the Vatican privately.
Plot and Cast
The screenplay compresses Harris’s narrative into 72 hours. Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Fiennes), Dean of the College of Cardinals, organises the election after the Pope’s unexpected death. As 118 cardinals are sequestered, Lawrence uncovers damaging secrets about the candidates through successive ballot rounds, each shifting allegiances – structured like a procedural investigation rather than a conventional thriller.
Fiennes renders his crisis of faith almost entirely through facial expression. “He is so emotive in his face that he can express with every muscle anything he thinks or feels,” Berger told Deadline. “I really forgot the script and just looked at his face.”
The ensemble maps a political spectrum: Stanley Tucci’s Cardinal Bellini channels American progressivism (partly based on Carlo Maria Martini’s failed 2005 bid); John Lithgow’s Cardinal Tremblay operates as a compromised moderate; Sergio Castellitto’s Cardinal Tedesco embodies Italian traditionalism, vaping on a cardinal-red device; Lucian Msamati’s Cardinal Adeyemi brings an African perspective. Isabella Rossellini delivers comic precision as Sister Agnes in limited screen time. Carlos Diehz appears as Cardinal Benitez from Kabul, whose quiet presence carries disproportionate narrative weight. Volker Bertelmann’s clangorous score – his second collaboration with Berger after All Quiet – comments derisively on the proceedings, while Stéphane Fontaine’s cinematography (Jackie, Elle) captures the Vatican’s visual grandeur against claustrophobic tension.
Box Office and Awards
The film holds 93% on Rotten Tomatoes (336 reviews, 8.1/10 average) and 79/100 on Metacritic. CinemaScore: B+; PostTrak: 84% positive. The National Board of Review and AFI both placed it among 2024’s top ten films.
Financially, Conclave returned $128 million worldwide against a $20 million budget – a 6.4x multiple. Domestic gross: $32.5 million; UK: $10.3 million; France: $8.9 million; Australia: $4.3 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated $15 million net profit after ancillaries.
The awards haul was substantial. At the 78th BAFTAs, the film won four prizes – Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing – tying The Brutalist for most wins. Straughan won the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay. The SAG Awards honoured the ensemble with Outstanding Performance by a Cast. At the 97th Academy Awards, Conclave received eight nominations – Best Picture, Best Actor (Fiennes), Best Supporting Actress (Rossellini), Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, and Best Costume Design – winning Best Adapted Screenplay for Straughan.
The Pope Francis Effect
Streaming viewership spiked 283% on 21 April 2025 following Pope Francis’s death, from 1.8 million minutes watched to 6.9 million, according to Luminate. When Amazon Prime Video made the film available two days later, minutes surged to 18.3 million – a 3,200% week-over-week increase. Netflix’s The Two Popes saw a concurrent 417% spike. The subsequent real-world conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV in May 2025 cemented the film’s cultural footprint beyond its theatrical window.
Berger’s omission from the Best Director Oscar nominations for both All Quiet and Conclave remains perplexing given the latter’s Best Picture nod. His one-two punch has nonetheless positioned him for larger canvases – the trajectory of Villeneuve and Nolan. The film’s real achievement is demonstrating that dialogue-driven adult cinema can command both critical respect and commercial returns. For a story about the world’s oldest election, that constitutes a modern victory.
