Conclave review – Ralph Fiennes is almighty in thrilling papal tussle

 

 

"What’s notable, however, is that for all the scene-stealing garnishes and ostentatious line deliveries elsewhere, the most memorable performance in Conclave – and in fact it’s among the finest pieces of acting this year – is also one of the most restrained. Ralph Fiennes is phenomenal as Cardinal Lawrence, dean of the college of cardinals, a position that places him second in Vatican seniority after the pope himself. After the sudden death of the pontiff, Lawrence finds himself saddled with the onerous responsibility of overseeing the conclave – the assembly of all the cardinals of the Catholic church to elect the new pope. The genius of Fiennes’s performance is that so little of it is worn on the surface. All the anguish, the grief over the death of his beloved leader, the churning doubts (and it is doubt, rather than faith, that is the engine driving this film) – all of it is internalised. We get hints, in the bowed back, the twitch of Lawrence’s mouth. And yet Fiennes draws us in. We are invited to share Lawrence’s turmoil rather than just observe it."

read review by wendy ide

Conclave review – Ralph Fiennes is almighty in thrilling papal tussle | Drama films | The Guardian