One of my goals in retirement is to watch more movies and sporting events and to read more books. Another goal is to write more articles for my website, richardhowe.com, so writing reviews of what I watch and read helps advance both goals.

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By the time I reached age 30, staying up until midnight on New Year’s Eve was something I no longer did. Instead, our family celebrated the new year by going to the movies, specifically to the first showing of the day of whatever film was of interest. That tradition continued through Covid except instead of going to the cinema, we curled up in front of the TV for something from a streaming service.

This year’s selection was Conclave, a film released this October in theaters and in November on the Paramount streaming service. Here’s a synopsis of the film from the Rotten Tomatoes website:

CONCLAVE follows one of the world’s most secretive and ancient events — selecting the new Pope. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope. Once the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders have gathered from around the world and are locked together in the Vatican halls, Lawrence uncovers a trail of deep secrets left in the dead Pope’s wake, secrets which could shake the foundations of the Church.

Directed by Edward Berger, a German-born filmmaker who works mostly in that country and whose other films include All Quiet on the Western Front (from Netflix in 2022), Conclave stars Ralph Fiennes (The King’s Man, The Dig, Harry Potter), Stanley Tucci (The King’s Man, Spotlight, The Hunger Games), John Lithgow (Terms of Endearment, 3rd Rock from the Sun) and a stellar cast of international actors.

As a drama, the movie succeeds wonderfully. From the opening scene, there was tension throughout, and not the “monster jumping from the closet” type of movie stress, but more as illustrations of human nature and the human condition. There is a surprise ending, and – hopefully this is not a spoiler – a surprise ending within the surprise ending. I’ll leave it at that.

While I enjoy all types of movies, my favorites are those set in other time periods and places that put a lot of effort into costume and set design. Not having studied or lived through most periods depicted on film, I take a leap of faith and assume the depictions of dress, furnishings, and everything else is historically accurate even if the story departs from the strict historical record. Conclave puts much effort into the rituals and accoutrements of the Catholic church in Rome which makes the movie interesting on its own. As for where the movie falls on today’s political spectrum, I’ll date myself by saying it would be more favorably received by readers of The Phoenix than of The Pilot, but it is an excellent film that I would recommend to anyone.

Here’s the theatrical trailer from YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX9jasdi3ic