Kritiken

A gripping examination of conscience and humanity, all wrapped up in a tantalizing riddle. The acting is superb, especially that of Fiennes, who brings to Lawrence both decency and, most importantly, doubt. Conclave may unsettle its protagonists, but we emerge with renewed belief in the power of cinema.

Conclave is briskly enjoyable, but once you’ve wafted the white smoke away, it leaves you with frustratingly little to chew on. Save Fiennes, perhaps, declaring “certainty the enemy” and really seeming to mean it.

[Conclave] is anchored by a truly powerful performance from one our best, Ralph Fiennes, who joins a phenomenal ensemble of character actors who just devour the rich, and, yes, sometimes pulpy dialogue from writer Peter Straughan. There’s one twist too many in this tale of skeletons in papal closets but I had been entertained enough by then to forgive the film’s final confession.

[Conclave] combines the pulp velocity of a great airport read with the gravitas of high drama... Amid such stately ceremony, Berger finds ways to insert gradually escalating tumult and cattiness.

[The] pulpy papal thriller Conclave has a brisk, page-turning allure, filled with juicy intrigue and mystery, a beach read that would follow you back home after... It’s a thriller of character actors talking in rooms but Berger gives it a dynamism which makes it glide.

More airport paperback than theological treatise, Conclave is undeniably silly throughout, but its last-second reveals choreograph the sensibility too openly, undercutting much of what was masterfully unfurled up until that point.

Berger’s latest is a blast of brilliance, with a supremely compelling story driven by some astonishing performances. Fiennes, in a career of august characters, manages to outshine many of his most formidable roles, and the rest of the ensemble provides a stark sense of realism even within the heightened circumstances. This is a nourishing film, with deep ideas nestled within a puply, thriller structure.

Conclave is designed to provoke visceral responses... [The film] whips itself up into high melodrama and then cuts through all the sturm und drang with sudden darts of humor. It’s a carefully calibrated thing, touching fingers with prestige greatness while keeping its feet firmly planted in the realm of rollicking entertainment.

Conclave is packed with unexpected twists and its final reveal is one viewers will never see coming, an increasingly rare occurrence in modern movie-making and the mark of an impeccably crafted thriller.

A gradually swelling, deeply intellectual, and unexpectedly fun political thriller... If there is any certainty in 2024, at least in the cinematic sense, Conclave is among the very best films of the year. It’s a knockout.

It’s all a bit too simple, and the whole thing is capped off with a coup de grâce that’s good for a laugh, but Fiennes and Tucci are so good at threading the needle between biblical sanctimony and Christmas ham that [Conclave] is a treat to watch, even if it fails to reward whatever faith you place in it.

Berger sculpts a slow burn of a thriller that climaxes with marvelous effect... Berger’s eye and cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine’s camerawork make sure that a story that could have seemed claustrophobic feels more cinematic than anyone would expect.