After premiering at the 51st Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2024, Conclave was released in theaters in the United States by Focus Features on October 25 and in the United Kingdom by Black Bear UK on November 29. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised the performances, directing, screenplay, and cinematography. The film has grossed over $104 million worldwide on a $20 million production budget.
Janusz Woźniak, the prefect of the papal household, claims that the late pope had demanded Tremblay's resignation in a final meeting before he died, which Tremblay denies, while Bellini tells his supporters his goal is to prevent Tedesco from winning the papacy. Meanwhile, Lawrence is surprised by the last-minute arrival of Archbishop Vincent Benitez of Kabul, whom the pope named cardinal in pectore the previous year.[a]
On the first day, Lawrence gives a homily encouraging the college to embrace uncertainty, which some interpret as a declaration of his papal ambition. No one obtains the required two-thirds majority, though Adeyemi has a slight edge and Bellini and Lawrence split the liberal vote. Monsignor Raymond O'Malley, Lawrence's assistant, discovers that the late pope had paid for Benitez's plane ticket to Geneva for a canceled medical appointment.
On the second day, while breaking for lunch, the college witnesses a confrontation between Adeyemi and Sister Shanumi, a nun recently transferred to Rome from Nigeria. Lawrence privately speaks with Shanumi, who confesses to an illicit relationship that led to the birth of a son. Adeyemi further confirms Shanumi's story when pressed. Though Lawrence is bound to secrecy, a whisper campaign derails Adeyemi's candidacy. Bellini reluctantly decides to back Tremblay.
Working with Sister Agnes, the nun overseeing the cardinals' accommodations, Lawrence discovers Tremblay arranged for Shanumi's transfer. When confronted, Tremblay claims he did so at the pope's request. Lawrence then breaks into the pope's quarters and finds documents indicating Tremblay committed simony by paying cardinals for votes. He shows the documents to Bellini, whose plea not to reveal their existence sparks an argument.
On the third day, after revealing Tremblay's actions, Lawrence reconciles with Bellini and agrees to stand against Tedesco. He votes for himself during the sixth ballot, which is interrupted by an explosion that knocks him to the floor and damages the Sistine Chapel. The college discovers the explosion was part of a series of suicide bombings that have taken place across Europe. While Tedesco calls for a religious war against Islam, Benitez says violence should not be met with violence and chastises him for choosing his political agenda over his religious mission. During the seventh ballot, the college overwhelmingly elects Benitez, who chooses the papal name of "Innocent".
Lawrence is initially enthused until O'Malley pulls him aside to discuss Benitez's canceled appointment. Benitez, when confronted, reveals he was born with a uterus and ovaries but was unaware of their existence until an appendectomy. The appointment was for a laparoscopic hysterectomy that Benitez decided against because he believes he is what God made him. Lawrence wanders the Vatican grounds, listening to the crowds cheer Pope Innocent's election, before returning to his room, opening the window, and watching a trio of nuns in the courtyard below.
Stanley Tucci as Cardinal Aldo Bellini, an American liberal. Bellini's previous failure to gain election despite being the early favorite is based on Carlo Maria Martini's experiences during the 2005 papal conclave.[7]
John Lithgow as Cardinal Joseph Tremblay, a Canadian moderate
Lucian Msamati as Cardinal Joshua Adeyemi, a popular Nigerian candidate with conservative social views
The set designers took great care to replicate the Sistine Chapel, though they took some artistic license with the Domus Sanctae Marthae. They made their set more prison-like to enhance dramatic tension because they felt that the real version was rather dull. Costume designers visited Gammarelli, Tirelli Costumi, and several museums in Rome as part of their research. For the cardinals' red attire, costume designer Lisy Christl opted for a hue used in 17th-century cardinal vestments, rather than the scarlet one from modern-day ones, believing it be "far more beautiful and far easier for our eyes".[12]
While writing the screenplay, Peter Straughan said that he met with a cardinal to discuss the logistics of the conclave. He also took a private tour of the Vatican, and said he did not feel hostility while there and felt that the Vatican had been open to him.[12]
Due to many characters sharing scenes in the film, Bertelmann chose to create themes for specific situations as opposed to themes for individual characters.[15] In addition, he had string players use a ricochet bowing technique.[13] In order to mirror the film's conflicting factions within the cardinals, Bertelmann sometimes incorporated polyrhythms, such as triplets against sixteenth notes.[13]
In November 2023, Focus Features acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film.[18] In July 2024, Conclave was announced as part of the Special Presentations section for the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival scheduled for 8 September 2024.[19][20] The film would subsequently be announced as part of the lineup for the Telluride Film Festival, where it had its world premiere.[21]Venice Film Festival director Alberto Barbera explained why the film did not play at Venice: "I didn't think it was a Competition film for Venice but I invited it Out of Competition. We tried to figure out timing for it to play here and at Telluride, which they also wanted, but we couldn't find the right dates and timing for it to work. We discussed various options but couldn't get the time that suited everyone. It's a shame."[22]
The film was released in the United States on 25 October 2024.[23] It was previously scheduled for a limited theatrical release on 1 November before opening wide on the following week.[24] It was released in the United Kingdom on 29 November.[1]
Reception
Box office
As of March9,2025[update], Conclave has grossed $32.6million in the United States and Canada, and $71.8million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $104.4million.[3][4]
In the United States and Canada, Conclave was released alongside Venom: The Last Dance, and was projected to gross $4–6 million from 1,753 theaters in its opening weekend.[2] The film made $2.5 million on its first day, including $500,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $6.6 million, finishing in third.[25] The film is aimed at significantly older audiences. 77% of viewers were over 35 years old, with the largest demographic group being those over 55 at 44%, and 67% identifying as Caucasian.[26][27] The film then made $5million in its second weekend (dropping 23.7%)[28] and $4.1million in its third weekend (dropping just 18.1%), finishing in fourth and sixth place, respectively.[29]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 296 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.1/10.The website's consensus reads: "Carrying off papal pulp with immaculate execution and career-highlight work from Ralph Fiennes, Conclave is a godsend for audiences who crave intelligent entertainment."[30]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100, based on 54 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[31] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed by PostTrak gave it an 84% overall positive score, with 62% saying they would "definitely recommend" it.[26]
The film's cinematography and ensemble cast were widely praised;[32][33][34] however, some criticism was met for the plot,[35] with Katie Walsh of the Los Angeles Times calling it "a pretty thin and silly mystery ... that seems like it's deeper than it actually is".[36]IndieWire's David Ehrlich agreed that the film was "very silly but wonderfully staged ... even if the film might be a bit too convinced of its own dramatic import".[37] The Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips praised the film's "delicious portraits in pursuit, deceit and evasion".[38]
Mark Kermode praised the film for what he saw as a thoughtful and respectful portrayal of the papal election process. He highlighted the strong performances, particularly by Fiennes, and said that the film created suspense and intrigue without resorting to sensationalism. He also noted the nuanced exploration of the Catholic Church's future and its internal politics, which he found compelling and well-executed.[39]Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair said that the film rightly portrayed "both the seriousness of [the conclave] process and the campy ridiculousness of it", and thought that the film "touch[es] fingers with prestige greatness while keeping its feet firmly planted in the realm of rollicking entertainment".[40]Manohla Dargis of The New York Times noted that the film's stance towards the Roman Catholic Church mirrors Hollywood's own stance towards its film industry: "lightly cynical, self-flattering and finally myth-stoking".[41]
Lawson called the final twist "reckless" and insufficiently thought through,[40] while Variety's Peter Debruge called it "one of the most satisfying twists in years, a Hail Mary that both surprises and restores one's faith (maybe not everyone's, but certainly that of the disillusioned)".[42]Otosirieze Obi-Young, writing for Nigerian magazine Open Country Mag, argued that the portrayal of Adeyemi is problematic for playing into stereotypes of black men being sexually aggressive, and that "Sexual abuse ... has become, in the last few decades, the defining moral damage of Western Catholicism, yet the ahistorical vision of Conclave pins that responsibility not on a cardinal from any of those Western countries but on its sole black African papabile."[43]
The progressive National Catholic Reporter praised Conclave, calling it "a compelling and ecclesial call for a renewed spiritual stewardship characterized by humility, meekness, and, curiously, doubt".[47] Kate Lucky of Christianity Today, an evangelical publication, called the film "gorgeous" and "riveting", and said that "though the film subtly advances progressive convictions, it gives cardinals of all ideological persuasions equal opportunity to fall short".[48] Writing for the Catholic Herald, Miles Pattenden considered that the film "lacks the subtlety to explore [Church politics] inventively" despite some "exquisite moments", notably the performances of Sergio Castellitto and Rossellini. He also criticised its "lack of historical awareness", noting that questions concerning voting eligibility at conclaves and intersex clergy were "nothing new to the Church".[49]
John Mulderig of the Catholic OSV News said about Conclave that "rival viewpoints within the church are caricatured with a broad brush ... and the deck is predictably stacked in favor of those who advocate change". He warned that "all moviegoers committed to the church's creeds will want to approach this earnest, visually engaging but manipulative—and sometimes sensationalist—production with caution".[50] The Archdiocese of Los Angeles' Angelus magazine praised several of the actors' performances but ultimately dismissed the film, writing: "The problem here is not that it is full of bias against the Catholic Church. The problem is that it is just plain bad. ... At the crucial moment, [Benitez] gives a speech so full of platitudes it could have been written by ChatGPT."[51]
The Bishop of Winona–Rochester, Robert Barron, dismissed it as Oscar bait and termed it "a film about the Catholic Church that could have been written by the editorial board of The New York Times".[52] Sean Fitzpatrick of The Catholic World Report agreed with Barron's criticisms, while also criticizing the writing of Benitez's intersex status, opining that the statement "I am what God made me" is a common yet flawed argument.[53]
Social media influence
Following the film's release, several outlets noted the film's presence on social media and within meme culture.[54][55][56] Memes comparing the film to RuPaul's Drag Race and The Real Housewives appeared on Twitter, while other users created fan cams, including ones set to pop musicians such as Charli XCX.[54] Online comparisons were also made to media such as Mean Girls, while the "elimination" of the various papal candidates was compared to reality television shows like Survivor or The Bachelor. Also noted were memes comparing the characters in the film to real life figures such as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the two major candidates in the 2024 United States presidential election, which took place days after the film's U.S. release.[54] Many of these outlets took note of the apparent contradiction that a film that "might be [for] retired folks catching a weekday matinee" was popular in meme culture.[56]
Real-life parallels
In late February 2025, the 88-year-old Pope Francis became very ill and was hospitalized.[57] Philiana Ng of TheWrap observed, "The cast of Conclave celebrated their ensemble win at the Screen Actors Guild Awards[,] but acknowledged the real-life parallels to the movie – which chronicles the secret process of electing a pope – amid Pope Francis' current health crisis. 'We are very, very worried for our pope', Isabella Rossellini told reporters[;] '[w]e love this pope – Papa Francesco, Pope Francis. We wish him well. We wish him to recover.'"[58]
↑ Under canon law, it would have been illegal for Benitez to attend, as in pectore appointments end with the pope's death unless the pope publicly announces the appointment. The novel attributes Benitez's presence to the late pope changing this law, although the film does not mention the change.
↑ This award does not have a single winner, but recognizes multiple films.
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