Conclave, the 2024 political thriller a few papal election and the secrets and techniques beneath the cardinals' vestments, arrived at an auspicious time.

On April 21, lower than six months after the movie's U.S. launch date, the Vatican introduced that Pope Francis had died at age 88. A brand new conclave is now imminent.

Directed by Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front), Conclave scooped up statues on the Golden Globes, the British Academy Movie Awards, and the Critics' Alternative Film Awards. It additionally acquired eight Oscar nominations, together with Greatest Image, and gained Greatest Tailored Screenplay.

The solid of Conclave consists of heavy hitters like Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini, with Fiennes and Rossellini receiving nods for Greatest Actor and Greatest Supporting Actress, respectively.

"Conclave is filled with sudden twists and its ultimate reveal is one viewers won’t ever see coming, an more and more uncommon prevalence in trendy movie-making and the mark of an impeccably crafted thriller," Leisure Weekly's critic raved of their assessment.

So, let's speak about that ultimate reveal. Learn on as we clarify Conclave'sending and who wins the papacy.

What’s Conclave about?

As its title implies, Conclave is in regards to the centuries-old Catholic custom wherein the Faculty of Cardinals collect to appoint the church's new chief. Fiennes' Cardinal Thomas Lawrence organizes the conclave after the earlier pope died of a coronary heart assault.

4 candidates emerge as frontrunners, every representing a special set of values. Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) is a fire-and-brimstone conservative, whereas Aldo Bellini (Tucci) is a progressive within the mould of the earlier pope. Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto), in the meantime, was a fierce critic of the previous pope and believes the church has change into too open-minded. After which there's Joseph Tremblay (Lithgow), a average who might or might not have been requested to resign by the late pontiff.

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Nevertheless, nobody obtains the two-thirds majority required to imagine the position. In reality, Lawrence receives votes regardless of declaring he has little interest in turning into pope.

As the times (and ballots) roll on, secrets and techniques in regards to the candidates are unearthed, leading to crushed desires, new alliances, and some inspirational speeches.

Who turns into pope in Conclave?

Not who you may suppose.

Ultimately, Cardinal Vincent Benitez (Carlos Diehz) is elected because the church's new chief. Although he solely receives a couple of votes within the early rounds, the mysterious archbishop steadily climbs within the ranks as different cardinals discover their candidacies imperiled.

Benitez clinches his victory with a rousing speech about tolerance within the aftermath of an assault by a suicide bomber exterior the Vatican. Whereas Tedesco requires a holy battle in response to the assault, Benitez takes a special strategy, declaring that violence shouldn’t be met with extra violence. He counters Tedesco's traditionalist rhetoric by saying the church must concentrate on the longer term, not retreat into the previous.

The seventh poll ends in Benitez being elected the subsequent pope. He chooses the papal title of "Harmless."

Who’s Cardinal Vincent Benitez in Conclave?

Earlier than displaying as much as the Vatican, Cardinal Benitez, the Mexican-born archbishop of Kabul, was unknown to lots of his fellow cardinals. He was, nonetheless, shut with the late pope, who elevated Benitez to his place in pectore, that means that he did so in secret.

Since there's an air of secrecy round Benitez, Lawrence asks his assistant, Monsignor O’Malley (Brían F. O’Byrne), to assemble intel in regards to the archbishop. He learns that Benitez seems to have some type of undisclosed well being subject. Additionally, the late pope apparently paid for Benitez to fly to Switzerland for a medical process, although it seems Benitez ended up canceling it.

How does Conclave finish?

The ultimate scenes of Conclave discover Lawrence confronting Benitez in regards to the nature of his aborted journey to Switzerland.

The reality is stranger than Lawrence anticipated: Benitez, we be taught, is intersex, that means he was born with a uterus and ovaries. The appointment the late pope helped facilitate was for a laparoscopic hysterectomy that will take away the uterus. Benitez, who nonetheless identifies as male, tells Lawrence that he determined in opposition to the process as a result of he believes he’s "as God made me."

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Benitez believes his identification advantages the position, as he "exists between certainties." This comforts Lawrence, who proclaims earlier within the movie that "certainty is the nice enemy of unity."

He says, "Our religion is a dwelling factor exactly as a result of it walks hand in hand with doubt. If there’s solely certainty and little question, there could be no thriller, and due to this fact no want for religion."

What does the ending of Conclave imply?

Conclave depicts the Catholic church at an inflection level, with warring political factions proving themselves useless, self-serving, and hypocritical of their pursuit of energy. It's additionally, as Rossellini's Sister Agnes demonstrates, a patriarchal group that is still retrograde in its gender politics. Even the movie's ostensible progressives, like Tucci's Bellini, should not proof against unethical bargaining behind the scenes.

The movie appears to argue, although, that progress is inevitable. By electing Benitez, the cardinals have unwittingly appointed a frontrunner who falls exterior conventional binaries, thus bringing a brand new perspective into the Vatican. The promise of progress is mirrored within the sounds of the nuns laughing.

Talking with EW, Berger mirrored on the second the home windows of the Vatican open to spill gentle into the "monastic, fairly chilly, fairly hermetically sealed" area. "After which the home windows open in the long run. I needed it to really feel like a liberation; life comes again in, feminine laughter comes again in, air, winds, noise, solar," he mentioned.

Is Conclave primarily based on a real story?

No, Conclave is just not primarily based on a real story, but it surely was tailored from a 2016 novel of the identical title by Robert Harris.

Nevertheless, Harris revealed that parts of the story have been impressed by real-life occasions. "There's an alleged diary by a cardinal from the conclave that elected [Cardinal Joseph] Ratzinger as Pope Benedict that describes the poll course of and an try to attempt to cease Ratzinger," he told TIME in a 2024 interview. "There was additionally a terrific liberal cardinal from Milan who was anticipated yr after yr to change into the pope. He was at all times the favourite, however he solely got here third after the primary poll. That's the Stanley Tucci character within the film and units up the human drama, the person who's waited all his life just for it to slide away from him."

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On the time of writing, the church is making ready for a conclave within the wake of Pope Francis' demise. Will it’s as dramatic? Most likely not. Will it’s as catty? Time will inform.

The place can I watch Conclave?

Conclave is at the moment streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

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