“Why ‘Conclave’ Surprised Us All with Its Unexpected Joy”

We understand—there is simply too much happening. Thus, as in previous years, we are providing our editors a final chance to highlight the elements that perhaps slipped through the cracks. Discover all the content you truly should have read, viewed, or listened to—as well as additional coverage of our year in review—here.

In general, I’m not particularly fond of films that prominently feature the Catholic Church. Sure, Spotlight was memorable in its own way, but between that and Hanya Yanagihara’s intense 2015 novel A Little Life, I was beginning to feel somewhat overwhelmed by the portrayal of priest abuse as a storytelling element (mostly because this element seldom highlights the lived realities of survivors of clergy abuse, instead focusing on the aftermath for abusive priests when their misdeeds are exposed, and the ways the institution itself rebounds or does not as a result of these misdeeds. No offense intended, but who truly cares? Let’s dismantle all the institutions!).

Perhaps that’s exactly why I found Conclave, Edward Berger’s suspense/thriller surrounding the election of a new pope, so compelling. The film, adapted from the 2016 novel by Robert Harris, features priests engaging in questionable behavior and Isabella Rossellini strenuously disapproving of virtually everyone, but as far as we are aware, none of their various misdeeds involve the endangerment of minors. (To be fair, there is one subplot concerning Nigeria’s Cardinal Adeyemi involved in an inappropriate relationship with a nun from his homeland, but there’s no explicit evidence to suggest that said nun was underage at the time.) Primarily, the questionable actions of these potential popes can be summarized in two terms: “vaping” and “gossip,” both of which I absolutely adore!